中國(guó)成語(yǔ)故事中英對(duì)照 騎虎難下

　　Yang Jian was the regent(攝政王) of the last king of Northern Zhou(557-581). His wife advised him: "Northern Zhou is dying. Now it is as if you are riding on the back of a tiger. It will be dangerous to dismount(下馬，下車(chē)) . You can do nothing but continue." Yang Jian thought this quite reasonable. Later, he founded the Sui Dynasty, and united China once more.

　　This idom is used as a metaphor meaning that one is in a difficult situation and cannot help but ontinue to pursue one's sourse.

　　騎虎難下典故：晉朝時(shí)期，鎮(zhèn)守歷陽(yáng)的將領(lǐng)蘇峻和祖約以誅殺朝廷奸臣為名，率領(lǐng)軍隊(duì)進(jìn)入都城建康，把持了朝中大權(quán)。

　　江州刺史溫嶠(qiáo)聽(tīng)說(shuō)叛軍在都城作亂，立刻挺身而出，擁戴征西大將軍陶侃為盟主，起兵討伐叛軍。由于叛軍人多勢(shì)眾，陶侃接連吃了幾次敗仗，有些沉不住氣了，開(kāi)始埋怨溫嶠過(guò)高估計(jì)了自己的實(shí)力。溫嶠說(shuō)：“戰(zhàn)勝叛軍的關(guān)鍵在于隊(duì)伍的團(tuán)結(jié)，而不能是一盤(pán)散沙。 當(dāng)年劉秀救昆陽(yáng)，曹操戰(zhàn)官渡不都是團(tuán)結(jié)一致，以少勝多的典范嗎?叛軍只憑一時(shí)氣盛攻占了都城，他們利欲熏心，是一群烏合之眾，只要我們團(tuán)結(jié)努力，就一定能戰(zhàn)勝他們?，F(xiàn)在國(guó)難當(dāng)頭，我們仗義討伐叛軍，順人心，合民意，決不能后退。這就好比騎在老虎身上，如果，不把它打死，怎么能半途從它身上跳下來(lái)呢?”

　　陶侃聽(tīng)了溫嶠的話，覺(jué)得很有道理，重新樹(shù)立了作戰(zhàn)信心。他和溫嶠仔細(xì)商議對(duì)策，從水陸兩路進(jìn)攻，終于打敗了叛軍。

　　騎虎難下意思：騎在老虎背上不能下來(lái)。比喻做一件事情繼續(xù)下去有困難，但情況又不允許中途停止，陷于進(jìn)退兩難的境地。