名落孙山
在中国宋朝的时候，有一个名叫孙山的才子，他为人不但幽默，而且很善于说笑话，所以附近的人就给他取了一个“滑稽才子”的绰号。
有一次，他和一个同乡的儿子一同到京城，去参加举人的考试。放榜的时候，孙山的名字虽然被列在榜文的倒数第一名，但仍然是榜上有名，而那位和他一起去的那 位同乡的儿子，却没有考上。不久，孙山先回到家里，同乡便来问他儿子有没有考取。孙山既不好意思直说，又不便隐瞒，于是，就随口念出两句不成诗的诗句来： “解元尽处是孙山，贤郎更在孙山外。”
解元，就是我国科举制度所规定的举人第一名。而孙山在诗里所谓的“解元”，乃是泛指一般考取的举人。他这首诗全部的意思是说：“举人榜上的最后一名是我孙 山，而令郎的名字却还在我孙山的后面。” 从此，人们便根据这个故事，把投考学校或参加各种考试，没有被录取，叫做“名落孙山”。
A name that falls behind Sun Shan – Failed in the imperial examination
During the Song Dynasty, there lived a talented scholar named Sun Shan. He was known for his rich sense of humor.
One year, when Sun Shan was about to set out to sit an imperial civic examination, a villager came to ask Sun to keep his son company, who was also going to take the examination. So the two of them journeyed together.
When the list of successful candidates was published, Sun Shan’s name was at the bottom of the pass list; but at least he had passed, and he was happy with this. The villager’s son, however, had failed.
Sun Shan hurried back first to tell his family the good news. The villager was anxious to ask Sun whether his son was successful. Sun replied, “Sun Shan is at the bottom of the pass list, and your worthy son comes just after Sun Shan.”
From what Sun Shan told the old villager comes the idiom Ming Luo Sun Shan — “to come after Sun Shan who had the lowest mark of all the successful candidates.” So Ming luo Sun Shan really means “failing the exam”. Anyone who fails an exam or comes a loser in any other competition can be described as Ming Luo Sun Shan.
(Source:english.cri.cn)
