成语故事：车水马龙
东汉时有一位有名的将军马援，他的小女儿马氏知书达理，后来被选入宫当了汉明帝的皇后。她生活简朴，一心为国，十分受人尊敬。明帝死后，马氏成了皇太后。有大臣提出要给马氏的弟兄封爵，她却极力反对：“凡是提出封爵的人，都是想献媚于我，要从中取得好处。前几天我路过舅舅家，见前来拜访的人很多，车子像流水那样不停地驶去，马匹往来不绝，好像一条游龙，招摇得很。他们只知道自己享乐，根本不为国家忧愁，我怎么能给他们加官进爵呢？”后来，这种“车像流水，马像游龙”的说法被简化为“车水马龙”，形容来往车马很多，连续不断的热闹情景。
Miss Ma, the youngest daughter of Ma Yuan, a renowned general of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was well-educated and sensible. Later, Miss Ma became the empress of the Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty. Leading a plain and frugal life and dedication to the country, she was deeply respected by her people. When her son succeeded the throne upon the death of the emperor, she was conferred the title of empress dowager. When some ministers suggested conferring dukedom on her brothers, she strongly opposed it. “Those who make this suggestion are trying to flatter me for certain gains. A few days ago, I passed by my uncle’s house, I saw many visitors going up there. Carriages on the way looked like an endless stream and horses were lined up like a dragon. They enjoy luxury life and totally ignore the livelihood of people. How can I confer dukedom on them?” Later, the idiom “CheShui Ma Long”, literally an endless stream of carriages and horses are widely used. It is now used to describe busy traffic or a bustling scene of activities.
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