get the casket and return the pearl

买椟还珠

A man from the state of Chu wanted to sell a precious pearl in the state of Zheng.

有个楚国人想在郑国出售一颗珍贵的珍珠。

He made a casket for the pearl out of the wood from a magnolia tree, which he fumigated with spices. He studded the casket with pearls and jade, ornamented it with red gems and decorated it with kingfisher feathers.

他用木兰为珍珠作了个匣子，用香料把匣子熏香，还用珠，玉，红宝石来加以装饰，并插上了翠鸟的羽毛。

A man of the state of Zheng bought the casket and gave him back the pearl.

一个郑国人买走了这个匣子，却把珍珠还给了他。

Too luxuriant decoration usually supersedes what really counts.

过于华丽的装饰往往会喧宾夺主。

This man from Chu certainly knew how to sell a casket but he was no good at selling his pearl. And the man of Zheng didn't know which is really valuable.

那个楚国人知道如何卖掉匣子，却不擅长出售珍珠(忽略了物品的重点，取舍不当)。至于买匣子的郑国人，他根本不懂什么才是真正有价值的。

【文化链接】

“买椟还珠”这个故事中那个买走了盒子却舍弃珍珠的郑国人其实“只注重了外表，却忽略了实质”，而英文中表达诸如此类的“买椟还珠”“以貌取人”意思的短语就可以用“judge a book by its cover”，直译也就是“光凭一本书的书皮，就判断书的内容的好坏”。

在英国达人秀中脱颖而出的草根明星“苏珊大妈”虽然没有华丽的外表，但是她以自己的实力一鸣惊人，所以苏珊大妈这个例子就告诉我们：Never judge a book by its cover.(不要买椟还珠/不要以貌取人)