朝三暮四Three for the Morning and Four for the Evening

Three for the Morning and Four for the Evening （成语 朝三暮四 英文）


In the State of Song there was an lod man who kept monkeys. He took to this so much that his animals grew into a large group. What was more, he understood what they wanted and they knew how to please him. In order to satisfy their desire, he took a part of his family's food to feed the monkeys. Before long his grain was running short, and he thought to cut down their food. Afraid that the animals might hence be not so tame and docile, he hoodwinked them by saying:"I'm thinking of feeding you with acorns, three for the morning meal and four for the evening meal. Will that be sufficient?" The monkeys all rose to their feet in anger. Seeing this, the old man said,"Then how about four for the morning and three for the evenging?(1) I presume that'll be enough." At this the animals all prostrated themselves before him in joy.


_________remark_______________
(1) This idiomatic expression is used to reproach one who changes a great deal in this words and action.

朝三暮四(chinese idioms)

　　宋国有一个很喜欢饲养猴子的人。他家养了一大群猴子，他能理解猴子的意思，猴子也懂得他的心意。他宁可减少全家的食用，也要满足猴子的要求。然而过了不久，家里越来越穷困了，打算减少猴子吃橡子的数量，但又怕猴子不顺从自己，就先欺骗猴子说：“给你们的橡子，早上三个晚上四个，够吃了吗？”猴子一听，都站了起来，十分恼怒。过了一会儿，他又说：“给你们橡子，早上四个，晚上三个，这该够吃了吧？”猴子一听，一个个都趴在地上，非常高兴。

朝三暮四,比喻人的行为反复无常。