班门弄斧|Teaching Fish to Swim

During the Warring States period, there wasa carpenter named Lu Ban. He was good at making woody tools. One day, a young man passed by a red gate. He held up an axe with his hand and said: “This axe is really good. I can make the greatest tools in the world with it.” Hearing this, people around here all laughed. One person asked: “So, can you make a more beautiful gate than this one?” “That’s so easy! I was a student of Lu Ban before!Making a similar gate is like a piece of cake!” The young man said arrogantly. “But the gate was made by Lu Ban!” All people said.

鲁班是战国时代的鲁国人。他是一个善于制作精巧器具的能手，人们叫他“巧人”，民间历来把他奉为木匠的始祖。 有一天，一个年轻的木匠漫不经心地走到一个大红门的房子前，举起自己手里的斧子，说：“我这把斧子，别看它不起眼，可不管是什么木料，只要到了我的手里，用我的斧头这么一弄，就会做出漂亮无比的东西来。” 旁边的人听了，觉得他太夸口，就指着身后的大红门说：“小师傅，那你能做出比这扇还好的门吗？”年轻的木匠傲慢地说：“不是我吹牛，告诉你们，我曾经当过鲁班的学生，难道还做不出这样一扇简单的大门来，简直是笑话。” 众人听了，忍不住大笑起来，说：“这就是鲁班先生的家，这扇就是他亲手做的，你真的能做出比这扇还好的门吗？”那位年轻的木匠不好意思地跑掉了。

重点词汇及短语：

carpenter 木匠

be good at doing sth. 擅长做某事

pass by路过

hold up举起

axe 斧头

similar 相似的

a piece of cake 小菜一碟

arrogantly 傲慢地