Sell One's Birthright for a Bowl of Stew 

为一碗红豆汤出卖长子权（为眼前蝇头小利出卖长远利益） 

故事发生在距今大约三千年前。犹太人的先祖亚伯拉罕七十五岁时得到耶和华指令，从幼发拉底河西岸的乌尔城举家迁居到迦南（今巴勒斯坦），在这里从事放牧多年之后，才与原配妻子撒拉生了一个儿子，取名叫艾塞克。艾塞克长大成人后，在父亲的安排下娶了堂妹吕贝卡为妻。由于长期生活的磨难，亚伯拉罕在儿子娶上媳妇之后不久就去世了。

This story took place around three thousand years ago. Abraham, the forefather of the Jewish people, moved with his families to Canaan from Ur on the west bank of the Eupharates at the age of 75 upon instructions of Jehovah. After years of a career as a shepherd, Abraham had a son with his first wife Sarah, whom he gave the name Isaac. As Isaac grew up, he married his cousin named Rebekah. Soon after this arranged marriage, Abraham died because of his old age and long years of hardships.

艾塞克与妻子吕贝卡后来生下了一对孪生兄弟，取名为以扫和雅各。以扫比雅各早出生几分钟，但是根据上古时期当地的风俗，这几分钟就决定了以扫作为长子将继承父亲的家业，这包括继承大部分牲畜和牧场、传递家族香火、承担家族责任、享有家长的威望等等。虽然是双生子，兄弟俩的外貌和个性都相去甚远。哥哥以扫体格粗壮，毛发厚密，善于放牧和打猎，性格豪放，大大咧咧，喜欢旷野里自由自在的生活。而弟弟雅各长得白净细嫩，举止文静，喜欢呆在家里想心事。他们的母亲更宠爱雅各一些，常常为雅各不能继承父亲家业一事鸣不平。这不是明智之举，难道她不知道这是在破坏家庭和谐吗？母亲的反复提醒在雅各心中种下了贪欲，他要设计把本属于以扫的长子权搞到手。这一天机会终于来了。

Later Rebekah gave birth to twins who were named Esau and Jacob. Esau was born only a few minutes earlier than Jacob. Yet it was these few minutes that established Esau as heir  to his father in the position of a first-born according to the local custom of that time. This meant that Esau was to inherit most of his father's livestock and pastures, carry on the family name, shoulder the family responsibilities and enjoy the prestige of a patriarch upon his father's death.  Although they were twins, the two brothers were little alike both in physique and temperament. Esau was a well-built hairy young man who was good at herding and hunting. In his bold, easy-going and noisy way he enjoyed  the freedom of the wildness. Jacob the younger one, on the other hand, had a slender body and light-colored skin. He was mild, and he liked sitting at home brooding. Their mother thought Jacob was a bright boy, and loved him more. She often explicitly expressed her regret that Jacob was not going to be the one to be entitled to his father's heritage. This was not advisable at all. Didn't she realize that she was impairing the harmony of the family? Rebekah's repeated reminding imbedded greed in Jacob's mind, who decided to conceive a plot to cheat the elder brother out of his rights. One day his opportunity came.

和往常一样，以扫带着一身汗水和尘土打猎归来，他又渴又饿。雅各恰好在厨房煮了美味的红豆汤，正等着他呢！以扫闻到香味，来到厨房，请求雅各把红豆汤给他喝：

As usual, Esau came back from hunting, soaked in sweat and dirt. He was hungry and thirsty. It happened that Jacob had cooked a pot of fine lentil stew. He was right there waiting! Smelling the food, Esau rushed to the kitchen and asked Jacob to give him some stew.

“求你了，我的好兄弟，给我一碗汤喝吧，我饿坏了，”以扫说。

“喝汤可以，那你拿什么来换呢？”雅各问道。

“什么都行啊，只要你给我汤喝。”此刻以扫只是想要填饱肚子，来不及想别的。

“那好。那么拿你的长子名分来换吧。”

“行啊！”以扫快等不及了。

“此话当真？你发誓？”

“我人都要饿死了，长子的名分又有什么用呢？它既不能裹腹，又不能解渴，你拿去好了。”

"Please, my good brother. Give me a bowl of your lentil stew. I'm starving," he said. 

"All right. But what will you give me in return?" asked Jacob.

"Anything. Just give me the stew." Now Esau only wanted to fill his stomach. He couldn't think about two things at the same time.

"OK. Will you give me all your rights as the eldest son?"

"Certainly." Esau was impatient.

"Are you serious? Will you swear to it?"

 "What good are they when I must sit here and die of hunger? They won't soothe my stomack or throat, will they? Let me have a bowl of your stew, and  you keep all the rights. "

 雅各等的就是这句话。于是他让以扫发誓，给了他红豆汤。以扫为一碗红豆汤放弃了继承权和财产，等他后悔时，为时已晚。

This was what Jacob had been waiting for. He made Esau swear to what he said and gave him the stew. Thus Esau renounced his claim to his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew.  It would be too late for him to pull back what he had done.

为了眼前的蝇头小利牺牲长远的重大利益，类似的故事一直都在上演。当年汪精卫投靠日本人，建立汪伪政权，以牺牲民族利益为代价换取个人的权力和荣耀，曾被宋庆龄斥为“为一碗红豆汤出卖长子权”。近年来，不断曝出国有资产被贱卖的丑闻，这表明我们没有吸取古人的教训。

Similar stories have always been going on in which the long-term and fundamental interests are sacrificed for immediate trivial gains. Seven decades ago Wang Jingwei set up a pseudo-government in Nanjing in colaboration with the Japanese invaders in search for his own personal power and glory. This was denounced by Song Qingling, Sun Yat-sen's wife, as "selling his birthright for a bowl of stew". In recent years, the media continually exposed numerous scandals of relinquishing state-owned assets at ridiculously low prices. This shows that people have not learned lessons from history. 

这个典故的写法有很多种，主要是用词上的差别：

Sell one's birthright for a bowl (或plate) of stew / lentil stew / pottage ............