【楊愛民】
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成語：返老還童（FAN LAO HUAN TONG）: to rejuvenate in old age; to renew one’s youth; to be in one’s second child; to be brought back from the lip of the grave; to regain youth; to rejuvenate oneself.
出處：晉朝葛洪所撰的“神仙傳”。
釋義：對於勤於學習，勤於工作，處事為人樂觀的老人都可稱讚為“返老還童”。
故事：漢朝，淮南王劉安雖然身為一個王子，但是他經常有一種非分的妄念：希望自己能夠長生不死。聽說有一種仙人是長生不死的，所以他開始研究如何能•找到這種方法使自己長生不死。一天，有八個老人去訪問六安，自稱是神仙。六安的門人一向是趾高氣揚。見這八位老人都是白髮白眉，老態龍鍾，門人拒絕通報，並對他們說，“人家說神仙是不會老、不會死、青春永駐的。可是，你們卻這樣老態龍鍾，可見你們不是神仙。也許是騙子。八位老人聽他們這樣說，哈哈大笑，說道，“ 你們不欣賞我們老？這很容易，我們能夠馬上返老還童立即變為童年。”說罷，老人很快的轉過臉來，立刻都變成八個小孩了。門人大懼，認為他們真的是神仙，急忙進去將這莊驚人的事通報劉安。返老還童成語即來自此故事。
用法：張三雖然年老了，但體力充沛，精神爍爍，大有“返老還童”的氣勢。
故事英譯：In Han Dynasty, King Liu An of Huai Nan always had an improper delusion that he would be able to live for evermore, even he had been a king. It’s said that there were celestial beings who were immortal, so Liu An began to study how to get the way to cause himself being a celestial being and would be alive forever. One day, eight old men visited Liu An, and said to Liu An’s doormen that they claimed themselves as the supernatural beings. Liu An’s doormen, who were always arrogant, found that all the eight old men were doddery with white hair and white eyebrows, doubted that they might be swindlers, so refused their notification to Liu An, and said, “It’s said that the immortals would not be old, never die, and were young forever. But you are so old, so doddery, therefore you must not be immortals, may be swindlers.” After hearing the saying, the 8 old men laughed loudly and said,” You don’t appreciate our appearance of age? It’s easy that we can rejuvenate from our age to the appearance of childhood.” After saying, the eight old men turned their faces quickly, they became immediately eight kids. The doormen were dreadful; they thought that they were real celestials, and they hurriedly went into the mansion to report to Liu An that there was an astonished event happened in front of their gate. The idiom ‘to rejuvenate in old age’ is from this story.
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