phobia a strong unreasonable fear of something: + about
I had a phobia about going to the dentist.
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サッカーのリーガ・エスパニョーラ，バルセロナ，久しぶりの勝利を
大勝で飾りました。マドリッドの２チームも勝利をあげたので，大変な
混戦は続きます。CLがなくなったバルサは是が非でもリーグ優勝をして，
国王杯もとって，二冠で終わりたいところですわ。
Enjoy Simple English (April 21, 2016)
Folklore and Fairytales: The Lost Horse (塞翁失馬)
The Lost Horse 塞翁失馬
A man who lived on the northern frontier of China was skilled in interpreting events.
One day for no reason, his horse ran away to the nomads across the border.
Everyone tried to console him, but his father said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a blessing?"
Some months later his horse returned, bringing a splendid nomad stallion.
Everyone congratulated him, but his father said, "What makes you so sure this isn't a disaster?"
Their household was richer by a fine horse, which the son loved to ride.
One day he fell and broke his hip. Everyone tried to console him, but his father said,
"What makes you so sure this isn't a blessing?"
A year later the nomads came in force across the border, and every able-bodied man took his bow
and went into battle.
The Chinese frontiersmen lost nine of every ten men. Only because the son was lame did father
and son survive to take care of each other.
Truly, blessing turns to disaster, and disaster to blessing: the changes have no end, nor can
the mystery be fathomed.
Commentary
塞翁失馬 (sai weng shi ma), the title of this story, is actually a commonly used Chinese idiom or
chengyu .
It literally translates as "Old Sai loses a horse". Old Sai is the wise man in the fable.
The expression is used to remind others to take life in stride because things aren't really
as good (or bad) as they seem.
Certainly seems like a wise advice for a society that lives only for the present.
(from http://www.yellowbridge.com/)
fathom to understand what something means, especially something very
difficult to understand, after thinking about it carefully:
The jury had difficulty fathoming the technical details.
少しだけTIME誌を読む
The View (April 25, 2016)
The Curious Capitalist
Janet Yellen is rebooting the Fed to focus on Main Street over Wall Street
with audio
にゃもし
