get on a gravy train

守株待兔

Once upon a time， there was a farmer.One day， while he was working in the fields， he saw a hare run into a tree stump accidentally and die of a broken neck.

從前，有一個農夫。一天，在他耕田的時候，忽然跑過來一只野兔，恰好碰在一個樹樁上，脖子折斷死了。

The farmer took the hare home and cooked a delicious meal for himself.

農夫把兔子拾回家去，美美地吃了一頓兔肉。

That night he thought： “I needn‘t work so hard. All I have to do is wait every day by the stump to pick up the hare that runs into it.”

當晚，他就想：“我何必辛辛苦苦的種地呢?每天在樹樁旁等著撿撞死的野兔就好了”。

So from then on he gave up farming， and stood by the tree stump waiting for the hare to come and run into it.

于是他從此不再耕種，每天在樹樁旁等待野兔的到來。

But from then on， he never saw another hare run into the tree stump.

但是，從那以后，他再沒有發現一只野兔撞在樹樁上。

“守株待兔”其實比喻那些“不勞而獲的人”，英語中可以用短語“get on a gravy train”來表達相應的意思。

這個短語來自美劇《老友記》，總是混吃喝的Joey和Monica交換公寓后依然大大咧咧地到別人冰箱里拿吃的。這時，Monica說：Umm， excuse me， we switched apartments. You can’t eat our food anymore， that gravy train had ended. (我說，我們好像換過公寓了吧? 你再也不能吃我們的東西了，吃白食的好日子結束了。)

Gravy，既有“肉汁”的意思，也有“外快;輕易得到的錢財”之意。漢語里我們常說某人“富的流油”，這里gravy train中的gravy也有“肉汁”的意思，大家不妨拿來聯想記憶一下，(get on) a gravy train， 就是“不勞而獲;輕易得到”的意思，也就可以翻譯成“守株待兔”。

我們來看幾個例子：

I wouldn’t like loafing. I don‘t want to get on a gravy train.

我不愿虛度光陰，我不要守株待兔。

After about three months， though， the gravy train stops and the young foxes must find their own meals.

這種守株待兔的生活只會持續約三個月，此后，小狐貍必須自己覓食。