《惊弓之鸟》成语英译与典故

三十、惊弓之鸟

战国时魏国有个谋士叫更嬴（yínɡ），

一日陪魏王去逛城。

抬头见飞过一只雁，

说不必放箭能射落。

魏王问你怎么有这本领？

更嬴说大王不信请一试。

他拉开弓弦只一弹，

弓弦就“崩”的响了一声，

雁闻弦响一声叫，

落下跌个倒栽葱。

魏王连夸更嬴本领高，

让他把鸟落原因来讲明。

更嬴说这雁曾经受过伤，

而且伤得还很重。

创伤至今没痊愈，

我看它只是勉强能飞动，

吃力扇翅飞行慢，

飞着飞着还悲鸣。

正当它失魂落魄忍痛飞，

恰又听到弓弦声，

这时它极力想朝高处飞，

猛用力旧伤更疼痛，

忍不住一头栽下来，

并非我更嬴有神功。

这故事常常比喻人，

经历过危难受过惊，

那样就遇事胆怯心虚怕，

恰如那受伤的雁儿闻响弓。

A Bird That Was Shocked at the Twang of the Bow

During the time of the Warring States（475—221B.C.）in the State of Wei，there lived a strategist named Geng Ying，who one day accompanied the King of Wei for a hike.They raised their heads and saw a wild goose flying in the sky.Geng Ying said that he could kill the bird with an empty bow.The King of Wei was wondering and asked how he could be so brilliant.

Geng Ying said to the lord that he could just wait and see.While he was speaking he pulled at his emp⁃ty bow，the string of the bow made a twang.On hear⁃ing the sound the wild goose uttered a creaking scream，and fell vertically on the ground dead.The King of Wei was amazed and praised Geng Ying's mas⁃ter skill，and asked what was the cause of this fantas⁃tic thing.

Geng Ying explained to him that the bird had been wounded，the wound was very serious，and it hadn't recovered yet.It could be seen to grudgingly fly，and it flew slowly and painfully.It was screaming miserably as it flew.As it lamely flapped along，it heard the twang of my bow.The bird then tried its best to fly higher.But alas，its old wound hurt terrib⁃ly when it tried hard，then it eventually failed and fell down.So it is not that I had any magic spell.

This story tells us：when someone is once seriously shocked，he may be more timid than before，just like the wounded wild goose hearing the twanging bow.