Translation of the Chinese Idiom \"Shuǒ Shǔ Wú Shí Wǒ\" into English

The Origin of the Idiom

\"Shuǒ Shǔ Wú Shí Wǒ\" is a widely-known Chinese idiom that originated from a story in the ancient book \"Zuo Zhuan.\" The story tells of a man named Qi Huangyang who lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. Qi owned a large field of millet that was regularly raided by a group of mice. In an effort to solve this problem, Qi decided to build a house near the millet field and assigned his children to guard the field. However, the mice were still able to sneak in and eat the millet. One day, Qi asked his advisor, Yan Ying, for help. Yan thought for a moment and said, \"If there are no mice, then there would be no need for guards. If there is no millet, then the mice will not come. Therefore, the solution to your problem is to stop planting millet.\" Qi took Yan's advice and stopped planting millet. The mice eventually disappeared and Qi's problem was solved.

The Meaning of the Idiom

The idiom \"Shuǒ Shǔ Wú Shí Wǒ\" literally means \"the rats have nothing to eat, so they do not return for my millet.\" Its meaning is to eliminate the root cause of a problem to solve it, rather than just addressing the symptoms. In other words, if you want to solve a problem, you need to go to the root of the problem and deal with it directly, rather than just trying to alleviate the symptoms.

The Translation of the Idiom

The idiom \"Shuǒ Shǔ Wú Shí Wǒ\" translates to \"without food, the rats do not return for my millet\" in English. The translation accurately reflects the meaning of the idiom and conveys the idea of addressing the root cause of a problem to solve it. In summary, the idiom \"Shuǒ Shǔ Wú Shí Wǒ\" teaches us to not only address the symptoms of a problem but also to find and eliminate the root cause. The translation \"without food, the rats do not return for my millet\" accurately conveys the essence of the idiom in English.