In the Warring States Period (zhàn guó 戰(zhàn)國), there was a man in the State of
Wei (wèi guó 魏國) called Geng Lei. One day he said to the king: 'I can shoot down
birds by simply plucking my bowstring.' When the king expressed doubt, Geng Lei
pointed his bow at a wild goose flying in the sky, twanged the bowstring, and
the goose fell to the ground. Geng Lei said, 'This goose has been hurt in the
past. Hearing the twang of the bowstring, it assumed that it was doomed. So it
simply gave up trying to live.'This idiom means that if one has been frightened
in the past ones will may become paralyzed in a similar situation.
戰(zhàn)國時期(公元前403―221年中國中原地區(qū)各諸侯國連年爭戰(zhàn)的時代)魏國有個名叫更羸的人。一天,更贏和魏國國王在一個高臺之上,仰望看見飛鳥,更贏對魏王說:“我可以為您表演拉空弓發(fā)虛箭但使鳥掉下來。”魏王說:“是嗎,射箭的技術(shù)可以達(dá)到這種程度嗎?”更贏說:“可以。”一會,有大雁從東邊飛過來,更贏用虛發(fā)使(大雁)掉下來了。魏王說:“啊,射箭的技術(shù)可以達(dá)到這種程度啊?”更贏說:“這鳥是受過箭傷的。”魏王說:“先生你怎么知道呢?”回答說:“它飛得慢并且鳴叫的聲音悲涼。飛得慢的原因,是有舊傷,鳴叫悲涼的原因,是離群的時間很長了。老傷沒好那么驚懼的心就沒過去。聽到弓弦的聲音,努力舞動翅膀往高處飛,老傷發(fā)作就掉下來了。”
驚弓之鳥
【翻譯】 1.A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string.
2.A badly frightened person; a panic-stricken person.