课文 Text:
古时候，楚地有个穷苦的读书人，读《淮南子》这部书时，看到书上有这样的记载：螳螂用树叶遮住自己的身体，其它小昆虫就看不见它，要是有人能得到那片树叶，就能用它隐藏自己的身体。
看到这里，书生呆呆地想：要是我能得到那片树叶，该有多好。我用树叶遮住自己，想要什么只管到集市上去拿，再也不会过这苦日子了。
想到这里，他扔下书就往树林跑去，想找那种螳螂藏身的树叶。他抬着头，一棵树一棵树地找过去，连脖子都酸了，也没找到那种叶子。
忽然，他看见一只螳螂躲在一片树叶的背后。他高兴极了，赶紧爬上树，准备采那片叶子。可巧，一阵风吹过来，树叶纷纷飘落，他要采的那片叶子也落到地上。
究竟哪片树叶是螳螂藏身的那片，他怎么也分不清。好不容易找到的宝贝树叶总不能不要呀！它准在这堆树叶里。书生脱下衣服，把地上的树叶都包了回去。
回去之后，他一片一片地拿起树叶遮住自己的眼睛，问他妻子：“你能看见我吗？”起初，他妻子老老实实告诉他，：“看得见。”后来，见他没完没了地 问，不耐烦了，说：“别问了，看不见了。”他高兴地跳起来，大声喊道：“宝贝可找到了！宝贝可找到了！”说完，拔腿就往市场跑。
市场可真热闹，什么东西都有。书生满心欢喜，一只手拿树叶遮住自己的眼睛，另一只手去人偷人家的东西，结果，给人当场抓获，被扭送到县衙门。
县官审问他的时候，他老老实实地说：“我找到了一片能隐身的树叶，用它遮住自己的眼睛，什么都看不到，这才去拿人家的东西。不知怎么搞的，这片树叶失灵了，我给别人看见就被逮住了。”
县官听了，忍不住哈哈大笑起来，知道他是个书呆子，训斥了一顿就把他释放了。
解释 Explanation to the idiom:
这条成语也作“一叶蔽目”，比喻被眼前细小、局部的事物所蒙蔽，看不到事物的本质和整体。
生词 New words:( 8个)：
记载 jì zǎi: record
隐藏 yǐn cáng: hide
赶紧 gǎn jǐn: get a hump on
纷纷飘落 fēn fēn piāo luò: falling down numerously and complicatedly
遮住 zhē zhù: shut out
老老实实 lǎo lǎo shí shí: honestly
当场抓获 dāng chǎng zhuā huò: capture the criminal or some bad person on the ground
书呆子 shū dāi zi: grind
词语复习 Review the new words:
A:这本书记载了一百个小偷(thief)的事情。
B:有一个小偷竟然把自己隐藏在树叶里去偷东西。
A:是吗？真有趣(interesting)。
B:结果，他被当场抓获，还被笑话成了书呆子。
翻译 Translation:
“To have one’s view of the important overshadowed by the trivial”. This is a perfect idiom to describe those who fail to see the whole picture because they are misled by trivial things.
Today, we’ll learn a new phrase, which literally means, “a single leaf before the eyes blocks out the view of Mount Tai.” In Chinese, it reads, “Yi Yie Zhang Mu, Bu Jian Tai Shan” .
There is an amusing story behind the idiom.
In ancient times, there was a poor scholar. He lived an idle life, never doing any proper work. He was always thinking of crazy ideas to get rich quickly. Though he had read many books, he lacked common sense, so he often did some very silly things.
One day, he read this in a book, “when a praying mantis was trying to catch a cicada, it would hide itself behind a piece of leaf to observe the cicada’s movements and choose the right moment to catch the cicada. Furthermore, anyone who finds a leaf used by a mantis can hide behind the leaf.” The scholar believed what the book said, and began to look everywhere for such a leaf.
Finally, he found one. But, unfortunately, the leaf fell onto the ground and got mixed up with all the other leaves lying there. The scholar decided to gather up all the leaves and take them all home.
After he got home, his wife saw a large pile of leaves and asked him, “What are you doing?” The scholar immediately picked up a leaf and held it in front of his eyes and asked his wife, “Can you see me?” Puzzled, his wife answered, “Yes.” He picked up another and asked the same question. His wife’s answer was the same. After he had tried many leaves, his wife got impatient and said “no” to his question. He was very excited and carefully hid the leaf in a safe place.
The next day, he took the leaf and went to the market. Hiding behind the leaf and thinking he was invisible, he tried to steal other people’s belongings right in front of their eyes. Of course, he was caught red-handed, and turned over to the county authorities.
When the county magistrate questioned him, he held the leaf in both hands and explained how he had learnt about its magical power in a book. The magistrate was very amused by the ridiculous scholar and said, “You bookworm. With a leaf before your eyes, you couldn’t see Mount Tai though it’s right in front of your eyes!” After getting a severe reprimand, the scholar was released.
From this little story, people drew the idiom “a leaf before the eye shuts out Mount Tai.” We use it to describe those who are misled by small things and fail to see the greater picture, or those who can only see the unimportant part of a matter, but fail to see the essence.
(Source:english.cri.cn)
