好奇害死猫
好奇害死猫是英国的一句谚语,旨在警告人们不要过分好奇,否则会给自己带来伤害。
起源 [编辑]
这句谚语最早出现在英国剧作家Ben Johnson(本·琼森)写于1598年的剧本《人各有癖》(Every Man in His Humour)中。这部剧本最早是由莎士比亚演出的。
...Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care will kill a cat, up-tails all, and a pox on the hangman.
在本句中,"care"被当作“Worry 烦恼”或“Sorrow 悲伤”。
莎士比亚在他1599年所著的剧作《Much Ado about Nothing(无事生非/無事自擾)》中运用了一句相似的话:
一直到1898年,“care killed a cat”這句諺語被 E. Cobhan Brewer 將安收錄到字典中,定義為:Care killed a cat. It is said that “a cat has nine lives” yet care would wear them all out. 中文大意譯為:據說貓有九條命,但即使如此,好奇心仍會把牠們累死的。
真正把 Care 改成 Curiosity 是在 1909 年 O. Henry 的一篇短篇小說 Schools and Schools: Curiosity can do more things than kill a cat; and if emotions, well recognized as feminine, are inimical to feline life, then jealousy would soon leave the whole world catless.
這句彥語還有後文: Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. 好奇心害死貓,但是只要好奇心被滿足就沒事。