用英语讲好中国故事：黄粱一梦 a fond dream
Once upon a time, there was a poor scholar surnamed Lu. One day, in an inn in Handan, he met Taoist Lu Weng. Lu Sheng sighed to this Taoist about how poor and frustrated he had been all his life.
从前，有一位姓卢的穷书生。一天，他在邯郸一家旅馆里遇到了道士吕翁，卢生向这位道士大叹自己一生是如何穷困潦倒。
Lu Weng listened and then took out a pillow and said, "If you put it under your head, everything will come true as you wish." At this time, yellow millet was being cooked in the inn. Due to the hardships of the journey all the way, Lu Sheng was very tired. So he muddleheadedly fell asleep on the pillow given to him by Lu Weng.
吕翁听后，便拿出一个枕头，说:“你把它枕在头下，便可以一切如愿了。”这时，店里正在煮黄粱饭，而卢生由于一路旅途艰辛，非常疲惫，便糊里糊涂地倒在吕翁给他的枕头上睡着了。
Before long, Lu Sheng entered a dream. He dreamed that he had married a young, beautiful, kind and gentle woman surnamed Cui. Although Cui was the daughter of a rich family, she was virtuous and capable. She also helped Lu Sheng smoothly embark on an official career and gave birth to several children for him.
没多久，卢生便进入了梦乡。他梦见自己娶了一位年轻漂亮、善良温柔的崔姓女子为妻。崔氏虽是富家千金，但她贤淑能干，还帮助卢生顺利地踏上了仕途，并为他生了几个子女。
Later, his children grew up one by one. Everyone lived a comfortable and prosperous life. And Lu Sheng was promoted step by step and finally became the prime minister. After a few more years, he had grandchildren and grandchildren-in-law. Then he retired and became an old master at home.
后来，他的儿女们一个个长大了，每个人都生活得舒适优裕，而卢生也步步高升，一直做到宰相的位置。又过了几年，他又有了孙子、外孙，便闲居在家当起了老太爷。
He lived comfortably until he was eighty years old and then died peacefully. When Lu Sheng woke up from his dream, there was still a hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth. He opened his eyes and saw that he was still staying in the inn. The glory and wealth just now was only a dream.
他舒舒服服地活到了八十岁，才安然死去。当卢生从梦中醒来时，嘴边还露着一丝的笑容。他睁开双眼一看，发现自己仍然住在旅店中，刚才的荣华富贵只不过是一场梦而已。
The innkeeper's cooked rice was not yet fully cooked. Thus, the idiom "a fond dream" came from this.
店主人煮的米饭，还没有煮熟。于是，“黄粱一梦”便由此而来。