desolate

門可羅雀

Duke Jai was a Han dynasty (漢朝) government official.

汲黯是漢朝的一位名臣。

Because he held a very high-ranking and powerful position， many of his friends， relatives， and even acquaintances whom he barely knew often went to call on him. So all day long， horses and chariots were lined up in front of his house; it was really as if “the courtyard was as crowded as a marketplace.”

因為他位高權(quán)重，許多他的朋友、親戚，甚至是泛泛之交的朋友都經(jīng)常會來拜訪他，所以他家總是門庭若市。

Later， however， Duke Jai had the sad misfortune of being removed from office.

后來他不幸被罷免，廢了官職。

His friends and relatives then stopped going to see him， and soon the only ones left in front of his house were flock of sparrows which would fly about and stop to rest on his doorstep.

后來他的親朋好友便漸漸疏遠他了，很少再來看望他，他家的門前只剩下一群麻雀，在那里嬉戲。

Not long afterwards， Duke Jai was reinstated. As soon as his friends and relatives heard the news， they all once again began to ride their horses or drive their chariots back to visit him.

不久，皇帝又下詔請他回去做官。 過去常來的客人又紛紛來拜訪他了。

Duke Jai， however， was now unwilling to see them， and door reproving those who would only associate with people of wealth and status.

但是汲黯因看清世事，便不愿再看到他們。

Today， we can use this idiom to describe any place which has been deserted， or where people are few.

如今我們可以用成語“門可羅雀”形容門庭冷落，冷冷清清。

單用英文單詞“desolate”就可以表達“冷清荒涼”的意思，比如“冷清的街道”就是“a desolate street”。

下面我們來看一首小詩：

Layin‘ in front of me are two roads：

在我的面前有兩條路：

One flourished with multiple kinds of flowers and plants;

一條花木叢生;

The other ， just a scene of desolation.

另一條門可羅雀，

However，I choosed the latter one.

但是我仍然選擇了后者。

其中作者形容“人煙稀少的路”就用到了表達“a scene of desolation”，意思就是“另一條路有一點荒涼的感覺”。