<p>武大郎 is a single personal sesame cake maker and vender, he had no shop, and he had no employees. He died of murder by his wife, and revenged by his younger brother 武松， this is a famous story written in book 水浒. And 武大郎 is famous for his characteristic of short.
And 武大郎开店 in the allegorical saying has the explanation ( you can see it as answer for this riddle) of 长子免进（or 高我者不用）, which means He will not hire who is taller than him.
So this is a metaphore of describe someone being jealous of man of talent.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T04:07:01.357Z
Though we know 武大郎 from <<水浒传>>,but his story  was already spread  possibly  before the book that is written based on many 话本 at that time。 武大郎开店 is the well-known creation  by famous cartoonist 方成.
sfy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T06:07:26.290Z
武大郎 is a person that first created in 水浒传, not from other 话本. And his story is copied by other books like 金瓶梅.方成 created the cartoon just by using the allegorical saying of 武大郎开店 in 1980.
user6365
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T08:08:24.103Z
I said "possibly",I'm not sure .
sfy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T23:09:46.170Z
I mean the kind of talent you install in your rival's camp.
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-23T07:17:56.473Z
There is no special kind of talent described in this word, this saying is only to describe a person's characteristic of jealous. There is also another idiom 嫉贤妒能, which can explain this saying precisely. The translation is to be jealous of others or be envy the good, I don't know whether these words are accurate enough to match the Chinese meaning.
user6365
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-23T19:09:08.993Z
Yes, he has talents. 武大郎 is the opposite of 伯乐. 伯乐 attracts talents, thus you keep 伯乐 in your company. 武大郎 has natural talents that repel talents, thus you install him in your rival's company. ;-)
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-23T19:46:12.197Z
Brains are the only natural resources that are worth fighting for. Unfortunately it's hard to start a charm offensive when the smog season begins. I don't know where you are from, our talents are all smoke out.
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-23T20:15:45.253Z
By promoting Wudalang on the east side of the Pacific, we'll have talents flocking to the west side of the Pacific. The good things is, the ultimate cause of smog is the lack of brains. As soon as there are brains, smog will be no more. Thus, an upward spiral, and the beginning of a new civilization.
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-23T20:18:06.307Z
Mind you, it was the Turks who flushed out Byzantine scholars who, fleeing westwards, awakened Europe from medieval slumber.
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-23T21:25:09.717Z
Thus a whole new world. Shining, shimmering, splendid. A fantastic point of view!
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-14T03:45:19.900Z
Wu thinks in comparison terms. His dominant passion is envy, or competition if you prefer. If Wu be the head of a team, belittling culture prevails. If Wu thinks you are better than him, he unconsciously sets his cross hair on you. He can't help it. Nor moral nor wisdom can help it. Let's help these people get promoted on the east side of the Pacific.
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T01:11:07.970Z
2014-09-22T01:11:07.970Z
user6365
<p>武大郎 is a legendary short man. He runs a shop; and all of his employees are shorter than him. It characterizes an orgnizational phenomenon. I wonder if there is an English saying that means the same thing.</p>

<idioms>
How to translate 武大郎开店 into English?
# How to translate 武大郎开店 into English?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-21)

武大郎 is a legendary short man. He runs a shop; and all of his employees are shorter than him. It characterizes an orgnizational phenomenon. I wonder if there is an English saying that means the same thing.

**Tags:** idioms

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-22. Score: 2

武大郎 is a single personal sesame cake maker and vender, he had no shop, and he had no employees. He died of murder by his wife, and revenged by his younger brother 武松， this is a famous story written in book 水浒. And 武大郎 is famous for his characteristic of short.
And 武大郎开店 in the allegorical saying has the explanation ( you can see it as answer for this riddle) of 长子免进（or 高我者不用）, which means He will not hire who is taller than him.
So this is a metaphore of describe someone being jealous of man of talent.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Though we know 武大郎 from <<水浒传>>,but his story  was already spread  possibly  before the book that is written based on many 话本 at that time。 武大郎开店 is the well-known creation  by famous cartoonist 方成.  
> **username_1**: 武大郎 is a person that first created in 水浒传, not from other 话本. And his story is copied by other books like 金瓶梅.方成 created the cartoon just by using the allegorical saying of 武大郎开店 in 1980.  
> **username_2**: I said "possibly",I'm not sure .  
> **username_0**: I mean the kind of talent you install in your rival's camp.  
> **username_1**: There is no special kind of talent described in this word, this saying is only to describe a person's characteristic of jealous. There is also another idiom 嫉贤妒能, which can explain this saying precisely. The translation is to be jealous of others or be envy the good, I don't know whether these words are accurate enough to match the Chinese meaning.  
> **username_0**: Yes, he has talents. 武大郎 is the opposite of 伯乐. 伯乐 attracts talents, thus you keep 伯乐 in your company. 武大郎 has natural talents that repel talents, thus you install him in your rival's company. ;-)  
> **username_0**: Brains are the only natural resources that are worth fighting for. Unfortunately it's hard to start a charm offensive when the smog season begins. I don't know where you are from, our talents are all smoke out.  
> **username_0**: By promoting Wudalang on the east side of the Pacific, we'll have talents flocking to the west side of the Pacific. The good things is, the ultimate cause of smog is the lack of brains. As soon as there are brains, smog will be no more. Thus, an upward spiral, and the beginning of a new civilization.  
> **username_0**: Mind you, it was the Turks who flushed out Byzantine scholars who, fleeing westwards, awakened Europe from medieval slumber.  
> **username_0**: Thus a whole new world. Shining, shimmering, splendid. A fantastic point of view!  
> **username_0**: Wu thinks in comparison terms. His dominant passion is envy, or competition if you prefer. If Wu be the head of a team, belittling culture prevails. If Wu thinks you are better than him, he unconsciously sets his cross hair on you. He can't help it. Nor moral nor wisdom can help it. Let's help these people get promoted on the east side of the Pacific.  

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