"The apple of one's eye" means someone's favorite or beloved person or thing, for example "His youngest son was the apple of his eye." This idea comes from the ancient view that eyes are a very precious part of the body, and the pupil of the eye is shaped like an apple. The phrase is used several times in the English translation of the Bible from the early 1600s, often talking about God's love for the nation of Israel: "He that touches you touches the apple of his eye." (Zechariah 2:8)
The apple of one's eye比喻最钟爱的人或物。例如，His youngest son was the apple of his eye（他的小儿子是他的掌上明珠）。这个说法来自古人的观念，由于眼睛是人身体中非常珍贵的部分，而瞳孔的形状像苹果，人们遂以the apple of one's eye这个词组来表示特别宝贵的人或物。这个短语在17世纪初英文翻译版的《圣经》中出现过几次，常用来形容上帝对以色列的钟爱。
（本文选自人民教育出版社《中学英语文化背景知识手册》，2008年8月第1版）
