《诚惶诚恐》成语英译与典故

八、诚惶诚恐

东汉成皋有任县令叫杜诗，

这人大大有来历：

他少年即胸怀大志气不凡，

很快就官升侍御史。

有一位将军萧广很蛮横，

经常放纵士兵把百姓欺。

敲诈勒索钱与物，

有时还蹿进村中抢妇女。

老百姓受到骚扰生怨愤，

杜诗就找到萧广把这事提，

劝诫他以后不能再这样，

萧广却根本不当一回事。

杜诗一怒之下动了手，

杀死了萧广方解气。

把萧广的罪行公布后，

老百姓欢天又喜地。

光武帝刘秀得知后，

颁下圣旨召杜诗，

对他的果敢倍赞赏，

给杜诗升官赠棨（qǐ）戟。

紧接着又派杜诗出京去，

驰骋沙场诛叛逆。

各地叛军诛平后，

又把成皋来治理。

不久后，调任南阳做太守，

更是煌煌有政绩。

他曾经广拓农田修农具，

为百姓除暴安良谋福利。

光武帝了解情况后，

又要给杜诗升官职。

杜诗却认为做官本分该如此，

还要求降到小郡去任职，

说自己“才能只够做小官，

赶上了国家缺人才把高职任。

长时期诚惶又诚恐，

更担心辜负圣主栽培意”。

越这样光武帝越信任他，

让他仍任太守职。

到后来，“诚惶诚恐”作成语，

常用作表章奏疏套用语，

表臣下敬畏皇帝的威与严，

也形容小心谨慎去处世。

Be Worried and Fearful

In the Eastern Han Dynasty（25—220A.D.）there was in Chenggao County，a magistrate named Du Shi.About this man there were many stories.When he was young he cherished high aspirations，and fortunately he was soon promoted to the assistant royal secretary.

Then there was a general named Xiao Guang who was merciless.He mismanaged his troop and they of⁃ten bullied the folk.They robbed them of their property，and even went into the countryside to prey on women.The people were irritated by their vicious acts.

Du Shi went to Xiao Guang to mention this，and tried to persuade him not to do it again.Xiao Guang，however，turned a deaf ear to him.Du Shi burst into a furious rage，and killed Xiao Guang passionately.

When announcing Xiao's crimes，the people were excited and overjoyed.When Emperor Wu，Liu Xiu was told this，he decreed a summons for Du，and gave him a promotion.Then he ordered Du to leave the capital for the battle front，and fight against the uprising rebels.

After he wiped out all the rebels，Du Shi went to reign in Chenggao.Later，he was transferred to Nan⁃yang to be viceroy，and there he achieved a great many administrative achievements.He enlarged the cultivated land and reformed farming tools.He man⁃aged to persist with justice and do beneficial deeds for the people.

When Emperor Wu was once again informed of this，he wanted to give him another promotion.Du Shi took it as his duty to do so，and pleaded to go down to run a small county.He said that he was not as qualified as a high ranked official.At that time the country lacked talent and he had to make a shift.

Even though he had been worrying and fearful all the time，that he might not live up to His Majesty's trust，the more he acted like this，the more Emperor Wu put trust in him.He made him the viceroy of the district.

Later on，“Be Worried and Fearful”as an idiom，is used to express a minister's respect and awe of His Majesty，as a routine way of reporting to the emper⁃or.It also came to mean that one is very careful when doing something.