英语早间课堂:话说地道美语 Lesson 13 (1)
“覆水难收”最早出现在南朝.宋.范晔写的《后汉书. 何迁传》，文中写道：“国家之事，亦何容易!覆水不能收，宜深思之。”后来演变为“覆水难收”，一直沿用至今，成为家喻户晓的一个成语。那么它是是什么意思呢?“覆水难收”顾名思义就是指泼在地上的水无法再收回，比喻事情已成定局，无法挽回。
So , “覆水难收”means "spilt water can't gathered up" and is compared to "what's done cannot be undone."However, we have a colourful sentence to express it. What's it? Let's listen to the following sentence: It's no use crying over spilled milk that you feel deeply depressed that you are not the first in the final examination for English. 你在英语期末考试中没有获得第一名感到懊悔沮丧，可是这是覆水难收，悔而无补呀!It's /no use/ crying over spilled milk/ that you /feel deeply depressed/ that you are not the first in the final examination/ for English. 亲爱的听众朋友，您觉得这句话中哪里表述出了“覆水难收，悔而不补”的意思呢?
它是一个句子，这个句子中含有连个重要的短语，一个是：cry over, c-r-y, cry(哭)，o-v-e-r, over(因为)，cry over意思是：因......而哭;一个是：spilled milk, s-p-i-l-l-e-d，spilled(打泼的，打翻的)， m-i-l-k ，milk(牛奶)，spilled milk意思就是：打泼在地上的牛奶。Spilled是实义动词spill的过去分词，这里做形容词，因为它与被修饰的名词milk存在着被动关系。那么表示出“覆水难收，悔而无补”的意思的这个句子是：It's no use crying over spilled milk. 意思是：为打泼在地上的牛奶而哭没有用。我们知道牛奶打泼在地上了，无论你是孙悟空使出千般招儿，牛奶也不会回到原处，还没等到你的眼泪哭干，打翻在地上的牛奶就已经蒸发干了。那么，哭有用吗?Of course, it's no use.
It's no use crying over spilled milk.这句话中关键的短语是：cry over spilled milk. It means " to waste time worrying about something that has happened that cannot do anything about". 译为：枉为无可挽回的事而担忧;作无事于补的担忧;作徒劳、无益的后悔，沮丧。It's no use crying over spilled milk. 引申为：对已成定局无法挽回的事儿后悔沮丧是徒劳，没有用的。这正是我们中文说的“覆水难收，悔而无补”。当然，我们也可以用一个否定结构的祈使句说：Don't cry over spilled milk.还有一种说法我们在前文提及，它是：What's done cannot be undone.但是使用含有“cry over spilled milk”这个短语的句子更为地道。
此外，再详说一下这个句子：crying over spilled milk是动名词短语做真实主语，it's no use中的it是形式主语。
那么当您的朋友因挫败而整天郁郁寡欢，茶饭不思，彻夜难眠时，您不妨用这句话安慰他：“It's no use crying over spilled milk. ”“Don't cry over spilled milk.”“What's done cannot be undone.”覆水难收，悔而不补。木已成舟，悔而无补。不要做无益，徒劳的后悔了。
Let's look at two more sentences. 1 I am sorry for you! You are crying over your stolen wallet,since it happened, just let it go, you know —— it 's no use crying over spilled milk. 我非常理解你的心情，你的钱包被偷了，伤心掉泪，那么既然此事已经发生，就忘掉吧，你知道的，覆水难收，后悔也无济于事呀。(备注：be sorry for 对某人表示同情。stolen wallet这里是用steal的过去分词来修饰wallet，它们之间存在着被动关系。 Let it go.这个句子我们也可以说为：Let bygones be bygones.)2 Don't cry over spilled milk, just be sure you won't make the same mistakes. 覆水难收，悔而无补，记住别犯同样的错误就行了。
【课堂总结】
在今天的课堂上，我们学了表述“对已经成事实而无法挽回的事儿伤心懊悔没有益处，是徒劳”的说法：It's no use crying over spilled milk. Don't cry over spilled milk. What's done cannot be undone. 就是中文的成语“覆水难收，悔而无补。”“木已成舟，于事无补。”前2个句子的关键短语是：cry over spilled milk 字面意思是：为打泼在地上的牛奶而哭，引申为：做徒劳，无益的后悔沮丧。此外，spill与milk 存在着被动关系，要用spill的过去分词来修饰milk这个名词，cry over something也可以说为cry about something，意思是：为......而哭。
亲爱的听众，你记住了吗?I am sure you've done. So , please finish the exercises left if you are available after work. 记住在下班后如果有时间的话，最好完成留给您的习题练习，学了不用很容易就忘记了。Practice makes perfect. If you practise it over and over , you can use it with ease. 熟能生巧。如果您不断的反复练习所学的东西，那么到时候就运用自如了。So , have a nice day. Thank you for your listening this time . See you! Thank you, listeners! See you!
【课后习题】
1 Please complete the following sentences according to the Chinese.
(1) 已经决定了，你就别沮丧了，沮丧也没有用呀。
The decision made and it's no use .
(2) 公司已经不给你升职了，你就别做徒劳的伤心了。
Your company made the you couldn't get and cry milk.
2 Please find the mistakes in the following sentences and correct them.
You have been against the law. It's no use to cry over the spilling milk.
