Once a man planned to build a terrace.

古时，有一个人要筑一座九仞(八尺=一仞)高的山。

He worked very hard and spent a lot of time digging and carrying earth.

他十分努力的建造这座山，并且花了很多时间挖土、搬运泥土。

When the mound was almost completed and only one more basket of earth was needed, the man gave up.

终于当山快要建成的时候，几乎只差最后一篮子的泥土就行了的时候，他放弃了。

The terrace was never completed.

这座山便永远无法完工。

This idiom means to fail to succeed for lack of final effort.

这个典故用以形容“离成功只有一步之遥，但最终失败告终”的意思。

少儿英语成语故事：天衣无缝

without loophole天衣无缝

Long ago, there lived a man named Guo Han.

从前， 有一个叫郭翰的人。

It was a hot summer. He couldn't fall asleep in his bedroom, so he went into the yard to sleep.

因为夏天天热， 在屋子里无法入睡， 就到院子里去睡觉。

Not long after he lay down he saw a woman dressed in white floating down from the sky.

躺下不久，正看着天空， 忽然看见一个白衣女子从空中慢慢飘流下来。

She said to him: "I am the celestial weaver."

她对郭翰说：“我是天上的织女。”

Looking at her Guo Han noticed that there were no seams in her garments.

郭翰看着这个女子，发现他的衣服全身无缝。

He thought this was very strange.

他觉得很奇怪。

He asked her: "Why are there no seams in your clothes?"

他就问她：“你的衣服怎么没有缝呢?”

She answered: "The garments of the immortals are not made with a needle and thread. How would they have seams?"

女子回答：“天上神仙的衣服，不是用针线缝出来的， 怎么会有缝呢?”

【文化链接】

“天衣无缝”的意思现在大多引申为“事物周密完善，找不出什么毛病”，也就是“没有漏洞的”意思，在英语中相对应的准确表达可以用“without loophole”，“loophole”就是“漏洞，法律空子”的意思，所以“without loophole”也就是“没有漏洞的”，“天衣无缝”的意思啦。