收集汉字: Collecting Chinese Words: 梁上君子 The Virtuous Gentleman on the Beam

Phrase by phrase translation.

梁上君子	The Virtuous Gentleman on the Beam
你知道为什么	Do you know why
中国人	Chinese people
把小偷也叫做	call a thief
"梁上君子"吗？	"a virtuous gentleman on a beam?"
中国汉朝	During the Han dynasty
有一个陈先生，	there was a man named Mr. Chen
很会教育人	He was a great teacher
所以他的孩子	so his children
都很听话。	were very obedient and listened to him.
有一天晚上，	One night,
一个小偷来到他家，	a thief came to his home
蹲在他家的屋梁上，	and was hunched over waiting on a beam of the house,
正准备下来偷东西，	prepared to jump down and steal things,
没想到陈先生	when unexpectedly Mr. Chen
从外边回来了，	returned home.
他一进来就看见了小偷。	As soon as he came in (the house) he spotted the thief,
但是他没有马上	but he didn't immediately
叫人来抓他，	call out to have him captured.
而是假装没看见，	Instead, he pretended not to notice
把自己的孩子叫来，	and called his children over to him.
很认真的对他们说：	He said to them seriously,
"一个人要经常	"A person should frequently
提醒自己	remind themselves
不能做坏人。	not to do bad things.
坏人不是生下来就是坏人，	Bad people are not bad from birth.
而是因为经常做坏事，	Rather, because they often do bad things,
慢慢地才变成了坏人，	they gradually turn into bad people,
就像梁上的那位君子一样."	just like the virtuous gentleman on the beam!"
小偷听了吓得从屋梁上	Hearing this, the thief was so surprised and scared
掉了下来。	that he fell down from the beam.

中国人	Zhōngguórén	Chinese person
小偷	xiǎotōu	thief
梁上君子	liángshàngjūnzǐ	lit. the gentleman on the roof beam / fig. a thief
中国	Zhōngguó	China
汉朝	Hàncháo	Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
陈	Chén	surname Chen / vassal state during the Spring and Autumn Period 770-475 BC / Chen of the Southern dynasties (557-589)
陈	chén	to lay out / to exhibit / to display / to narrate / to state / to explain / to tell / old / stale
听话	tīnghuà	to do what one is told / obedient
来到	láidào	to come / to arrive
家的	jiāde	(old) wife
梁	liáng	beam of roof / bridge / variant of 梁[liáng]
梁	Liáng	name of Kingdoms and Dynasties at different periods / surname Liang
没想到	méixiǎngdào	didn't expect
而是	érshì	rather
假装	jiǎzhuāng	to feign / to pretend
一个人	yīgèrén	by oneself (without assistance) / alone (without company)
不能	bùnéng	cannot / must not / should not
坏人	huàirén	bad person / villain
坏事	huàishì	bad thing / misdeed / to ruin things
慢慢	mànmàn	slowly
君子	jūnzǐ	nobleman / person of noble character

Story with pinyin.

Do you know why the Chinese call a thief a “virtuous gentleman on a beam”? There was once a Mr. Chen, during the Han Dynasty in China, who was very good at educating people. Because of this, his children were obedient and listened to what he said. One night a thief came to his home and was hunched up, waiting on a beam of the house, preparing to come down and steal things. Unexpectedly, Mr. Chen returned home. He immediately saw the thief when he came in the house, but instead of calling someone to arrest him right away, he pretended not to notice. He called his children over to him and said to them, very seriously, "One should always remind oneself not to be a bad person. A bad person is not born a bad person, but rather because he often does bad things, he gradually turns into a bad person… just like the noble gentleman on the beam.” Upon hearing this, the thief was so surprised and scared that fell down from the beam.

Source: http://chinesegarden101.blogspot.com/2011/09/gentleman-on-beam.html