APAD：The best laid schemes of mice and men

The best laid schemes of mice and men

The most carefully prepared plans may go wrong.

What's the origin of the phrase 'The best laid schemes of mice and men'?

From Robert Burns' poem To a Mouse, 1786. It tells of how he, while ploughing a field, upturned a mouse's nest. The resulting poem is an apology to the mouse:

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickerin brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!

.... ....

But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!

John Steinbeck's 1937 novel Of Mice and Men revolves around the notion that, whatever careful plans are made, things don't always go as expected. It took both its title and its theme from Burns' poem.

 

所有跟帖： 

• 凡事预则立，不预则废。语自《中庸》。 -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 12:01:26

• 听着耳熟啊：）） -卫宁- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 12:20:31

• 喔，这句被很多人视为座右铭，也包括你咩？：）） -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 12:25:10

• Go plan B :)) -卫宁- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 12:19:56

• agree ：）) -老林子里的夏天- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 14:05:46

• 学习了。移花节日快乐！ -ToClouds- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 12:42:09

• Very nice! I heard about the book first. -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 15:09:03

• 这古英语我看起来挺费劲的。我就记住APAD。不管起源了。 -天边一片白云- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 16:27:03

• 这古英语我看起来也挺费劲的～～ -唐歌- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/26/2023 postreply 17:23:25

• As things don't always go as expected，roll with the punches. -妖妖灵- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/27/2023 postreply 08:02:21