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.

从前，有一个农夫。一天，在他耕田的时候，忽然跑过来一只野兔，恰好碰在一个树桩上，脖子折断死了。

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

农夫把兔子拾回家去，美美地吃了一顿兔肉。

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.”

当晚，他就想：“我何必辛辛苦苦的种地呢?每天在树桩旁等着捡撞死的野兔就好了”。

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

于是他从此不再耕种，每天在树桩旁等待野兔的到来。

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

但是，从那以后，他再没有发现一只野兔撞在树桩上。

“守株待兔”其实比喻那些“不劳而获的人”，英语中可以用短语“get on a gravy train”来表达相应的意思。

这个短语来自美剧《老友记》，总是混吃喝的Joey和Monica交换公寓后依然大大咧咧地到别人冰箱里拿吃的。这时，Monica说：Umm， excuse me， we switched apartments. You can’t eat our food anymore， that gravy train had ended. (我说，我们好像换过公寓了吧? 你再也不能吃我们的东西了，吃白食的好日子结束了。)

Gravy，既有“肉汁”的意思，也有“外快;轻易得到的钱财”之意。汉语里我们常说某人“富的流油”，这里gravy train中的gravy也有“肉汁”的意思，大家不妨拿来联想记忆一下，(get on) a gravy train， 就是“不劳而获;轻易得到”的意思，也就可以翻译成“守株待兔”。

我们来看几个例子：

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

我不愿虚度光阴，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.

这种守株待兔的生活只会持续约三个月，此后，小狐狸必须自己觅食。