one‘s own wishful thinking

一厢情愿

Many years ago， a farmer happened to see the King’s daughter in the capital. He lost his heart to her at once.

从前，有个农夫偶然在国都看见了公主，顿时被她的美貌倾倒。

After returning， he missed the princess day and night. Soon， he was ill.

回家后，天天思念，不久就生病了。

His friends and relatives came to see him.

他的亲人和朋友都来看他。

When they knew the reason why the farmer was ill， they thought it was quite difficult to help the farmer， for the King would never consent to his daughter marrying a poor man.

他们知道农夫想娶公主后，觉得事情很难办。因为国王是不会把女儿嫁给一个农夫的。

But the sick man sighed sadly： “If I can‘t get the princess， I will be dead.” His friends tried to persuade him， but in vain. So they had to play a trick.

可这个农夫叫道：“得不到公主我会死的。”朋友们说服不了他，只好想了一个办法骗他。

Some days later， they came to see the man again and told him they had asked the princess to marry him， but she rejected.

几天后，他们又来看农夫，并告诉他他们去见过公主，但公主拒绝了他们的请求。

In fact， they had never done it. But the foolish man believed. However， he did not give up his mind.

其实，他们根本没见过公主。但农夫相信了朋友们的话，可他并不死心。

He announced： “if I visit the princess in person， she will say yes.” If he did so， you can guess the result.

他认为如果他亲自去，公主一定会答应。你可以猜想如果他亲自去会有什么结果。

Later，people use it to describe the man who only considers his own aspiration， ignoring the objective situation and others’ opinions.

后来，人们就用“一厢情愿”来比喻一个人只顾自己的想法，不管当时的客观情况，也不理会别人的看法。

自己凭空想象不一定会发生的事情，也就是“一厢情愿”。英文里要表达这句成语则会用很简单的说法“one‘s own wishful thinking”。因为较之hope，wish本来在涵义上就比较跟现实脱节，实现可能性比较小。我们下面来看一段对话：

Peter：Why do you keep doing extra work for Joe? He’s taking you for granted now.

Peter：你干嘛老帮John做额外的工作?他现在把你做的事当作是理所当然的。

Tina：I know he’s becoming very demanding now. But I just hope he’ll start appreciating what I’ve done for him.

Tina：我知道他现在要求越来越多了。可是我总希望他会开始感激我帮他做的事。

Peter：You’ve always been a great team player but you really deserve someone better to work with.

Peter：你向来都是最有团队精神的，不过你真应该和好一点的人共事啊。

Tina： Well， we were assigned to complete a project together. I think he will learn that it’s impossible to finish something all by oneself. And perhaps， he’ll become more supportive and thoughtful in the near future.

Tina：我们被分配要一起完成一个计划。我想他会了解，只靠自己一个人是不可能把事情做完的。或许以后他会变得比较愿意去多协助、多体谅别人。

Peter：It’s just your wishful thinking. Honestly， you’re not his mother and it’s not even your responsibility to“bring him up!”

Peter：这只是你一厢情愿的想法。老实说，你又不是他的妈妈，没有责任把他“拉扯大”啊。