魚與熊掌兩者不可兼得

If you are able to get your favorite flavor of cake and eat it, you are getting the best of both worlds. Everything is going right for you.

如果你能得到你最喜歡的口味的蛋糕，并吃它，你得到了最好的兩個世界。你一切都很好。

However, this is almost impossible, so this proverb warns that you cannot have everything that you want. Instead, only some things can work right for you, and you will have to choose whether you want one or the other – but not both.

然而，這幾乎是不可能的，所以這句諺語警告說，你不能擁有你想要的一切。相反，只有一些事情能對你起作用，你將不得不選擇你是想要一個或另一個-但不是兩者兼得。

I know you want a great salary and have a lot of time to travel, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too! You will have to choose one or the other.

我知道你想要高薪，有很多時間旅行，但你魚和熊掌不可兼得！你必須選擇其中一個。

Gary asked his parents to pay for his college tuition and give him a monthly allowance to use while studying, but his parents refused to give both. They made him choose one to teach him that he could not have his cake and eat it too.

加里要求父母為他支付大學學費，并每月給他一筆零用錢，供他學習時使用，但父母都拒絕給他。他們告訴他魚和熊掌不可兼得。

14. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink!

你無法強迫某人去做...

If you have a horse, you can only ask it to do so much. For example, you can lead it to a pond or lake, but you cannot force it to take a drink.

如果你有一匹馬，你只能要求它做這么多。例如，你可以把它引到池塘或湖邊，但你不能強迫它喝水。

So, this proverb warns that you can only do so much in influencing others, and there is a limit to what you can do. You cannot force someone to do something if they have no desire to do it.

所以，這句諺語警告說，你在影響他人方面只能做那么多，你能做的事情是有限的。如果某人不想做某事，你就不能強迫他去做。

Beth’s parents wanted her to move back to their hometown to get a Master’s degree, but she did not want to at all. They learned that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

貝絲的父母想讓她搬回家鄉讀碩士，但她根本不想。他們知道你可以把馬牽到水里，但你不能讓他喝水。

The government wanted people to smoke less, so they raised the taxes on all cigarettes. Surprisingly, people were willing to just pay more the cigarettes and only decreased their smoking by about 2%, showing the government officials that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

政府希望人們少吸煙，所以他們提高了所有香煙的稅收。令人驚訝的是，人們只愿意多掏點煙，卻只減少了約2%的吸煙量，這向政府官員表明，你可以牽著馬去喝水，但你不能讓它喝水。

15. Life is just a bowl of cherries!

生活很美好!

If something is going great, and the world is perfect, you can say that “Life is just a bowl of cherries” to show you are satisfied.

如果事情進展順利，世界是完美的，你可以說“人生不過是一碗櫻桃”來表示你滿意。

Damian got a great grade on his tests and received a scholarship for college, so his life is just a bowl of cherries right now.

達米安的考試成績很好，并獲得了大學獎學金，所以他的生活現在只是一碗櫻桃。

Frank’s wife just found out that she is pregnant, and he got a huge raise at his work, so his life is just a bowl of cherries right now.

弗蘭克的妻子剛剛發現她懷孕了，他在工作上得到了巨大的加薪，所以他的生活現在只是一碗櫻桃。

16. Bitter pills may have blessed effects!

良藥苦口利于病

If you take a bitter pill – or bad-tasting medicine – it could actually have a great effect on your illness. In other words, it may take something difficult or negative to have a nice effect. Without the bitter pill or hard work, you will not be cured or get great results.

如果你吃了苦味的藥丸，或者吃了味道不好的藥，它實際上會對你的疾病產生很大的影響。換言之，可能需要一些困難或負面的東西才能產生好的效果。沒有苦澀的藥丸或艱苦的工作，你將無法治愈或取得偉大的成果。

The only thing that keeps Mattie from quitting her job is her huge paycheck – bitter pills may have blessed effects!

唯一能阻止瑪蒂辭職的是她豐厚的薪水——苦澀的藥片可能會帶來幸福的效果！

It may take a long time to get started, but owning your own company can give you flexibility and a higher income. All your hard work is just bitter pills that may have blessed effects.

起步可能需要很長時間，但擁有自己的公司可以給你靈活性和更高的收入。你所有的努力只是苦澀的藥丸，可能會有祝福的效果。

17. Bread always falls buttered-side down!

禍不單行

If you feel that everything seems to go badly when you need it to go right, you can compare life to bread. If you drop the bread, it will always fall buttered-side down, meaning that things that can go wrong will go wrong.

如果你覺得每件事在你需要的時候都很糟糕，你可以把生活比作面包。如果你丟了面包，它總是會掉下來，這意味著可能出錯的事情會出錯。

In the business of theater and movie making, bread always falls buttered side down so you always have to be prepared and have a backup plan.

在戲劇和電影制作行業，面包總是面面俱到，所以你必須時刻做好準備并有備用計劃。

When you travel independently without a tour group, you can expect bread to always fall buttered side down. So, it is better to be prepared and have more cash on hand than you expect to need!

當你在沒有旅游團的情況下獨自旅行時，你可以期望面包總是面朝下。所以，最好做好準備，手頭有比你預期需要更多的現金！

18. Fine words butter no parsnips!

花言巧語是無用的！

If you meet someone who always says what other people want to hear but can never deliver on what they promise, you can scold them by saying, “Fine words butter no parsnips!”

如果你遇到一個人，他總是說別人想聽的話，卻永遠不能兌現承諾，你可以罵他說：“說好話，就不要防風！

This means that fine words – such as empty promises and flattering compliments – cannot actually help solve any problems. If you use this proverb, you are asking the person to take action and stop only talking about something.

這意味著，諸如空洞的承諾和奉承的恭維之類的好話，實際上無助于解決任何問題。如果你用這句諺語，你是在要求對方采取行動，不要只談論某事。

It was nice to hear all the benefits that our boss promised were coming, such as a new break room with comfortable couches. However, fine words butter no parsnips and we had no seen any progress on these promises.

很高興聽到老板承諾的所有的福利都來了，比如有一個新的休息室，里面有舒適的沙發。然而，美言不能使歐洲防風吃香，我們也沒有看到這些承諾有任何進展。

Sandra spent most of her time in the office talking to her coworkers, but she was passed over for the promotion because fine words butter no parsnips – Laura worked much harder than she did.

桑德拉大部分時間都在辦公室里和同事聊天，但她卻被提拔了，因為說好話是沒有用的，勞拉工作比她努力得多。

（來源：滬江英語）