《三令五申》成语英译与典故

六十一、三令五申

春秋时期有一天，

吴国的国王正把奇景观。

京都的校兵场上旗如林，

高台上，有个人正陪吴王朝下看。

台下有一二百美女站平地，

每个人手执一杆画戟玩。

她们都嘻嘻哈哈笑不够，

叽叽喳喳乱一团。

吴王看了眉眼笑，

旁边那人却心焦烦。

只见他，登登登下了高台梯，

来到宫女队列前，

厉声喝：

“领队的给我站出来！

刚才的号令可听见？”

两队长仍是嘻嘻笑，

“知道、知道”把头点。

“既知道，为何她们管不住？

做队长先应自己要求严！

你们俩违了军中令，

武士们！”

“有！”

“将她俩推到一边把头斩！”

“是！”

台上吴王听此言，

忙上前讲情面，

大意是：将军你善于用兵本王知道，

可今天，这两位爱妃不能斩。

请求将军快息怒，

留下美姬把寡人伴。

将军说：“大王你既然命我做将帅，

军中号令要威严。

将在军，君命有所不受，

行动可有自主权！”

说罢连连把手挥，

“武士们，速将队长人头斩！”

这两个美人队长头落地，

鲜血喷出几丈远。

美女个个面如土，

舌头伸在唇外边。

忽听将军又传令，

“重新再把队长选！”

又挑出两名美人做队长，

像刚才一样再操练。

这一次，宫女个个都听令，

人人不敢有怠慢，

起、卧、转向行或止，

动作丝毫不错乱。

这将军，原是齐国军事家，

姓孙名武尊为子，

著作兵法十三篇。

吴王阖闾阅读后，

倍加赏识亲迎见。

为了试试孙武才，

也试兵法可灵验，

吴王让他训宫女，

演出上边那一段。

那两位美人队长被处死，

是因为，误将军法作笑谈。

孙武几次施号令，

如同轻风吹耳边。

三令五申不听从，

嘻嘻哈哈耍笑玩。

孙武先斩二美姬，

其他宫女吓破胆。

命令这才都遵从，

严格执行真灵验。

到后来，“三令五申”作成语，

常形容，命令告诫许多遍。

反复强调要执行，

不能马虎与迁延。

Repeatedly Give Injunctions

One day during the Spring and Autumn Period（770—476B.C.），in the State of Wu，the king was on a sightseeing tour.On the drilling ground of the cap⁃ital the flags looked like a forest.On the platform，a man was keeping the king company.On the ground hundreds of fair maidens was standing，each with a carved spear in their hands.They were giggling and smiling on end，chirping there and making a great fuss.

The king watched it with a broad smile on his face，while his companion was very upset.As could be seen，he mounted the platform and came over to a row of the girls and shouted，“Come out whoever is the chief！I demand you，have you heard the order？”

The two chiefs were still smiling：“Yes，yes，we did，”they were nodding.“You heard it，but why didn't you control them？As chiefs，you should be strict with yourselves！So you have violated the army regulations.Warriors there！”“Yes，sir.”“Take them aside and cut off their heads！”“Yes，sir！”

When the King of Wu，standing on the platform heard this，he soon dispatched a messenger to curry favor for them.He meant to say that，“oh my dear general，you are very tactful in battles and I know that，but today you can't kill my two favourite concu⁃bines.”He asked the general to ease his anger and spare his beautiful concubines to keep him company.

But the general said，“Since Your Majesty has made me a general，the rules in the army must be hung on to tightly.When a general is dealing with the army，Your Majesty's decree may not be accepted.I have my own right to act！”

With these words，the general waved his hand，“Warriors，cut off the two chiefs'heads right away！”Those two beauties'heads fell on the ground.The fresh red blood sprayed a dozen yards away.The fair ladies there all turned pale and stuck their tongues out.Then they heard another order from the general“Come and re⁃elect new chiefs！”

Another two beauties were picked out to be chiefs，to train and to drill them as before.Up to now，the ladies had become awfully obedient.They prompted their actions without dilly⁃dallying，rising，lying，turning，walking and halting.They did all these without the slightest of errors.This general was none other than the strategist in the State of Qi.His name was Sun Wu and he wrote a book entitled“The Art of War”，13 chapters in all.

The King of Wu appreciated it very much after he read it，and went to see him in person.In order to test Sun Wu's talent，and to try his strategy as well，the King of Wu asked him to train the palace maids，as we just described above.

The two beautiful chiefs were beheaded because they regarded the military law as play.After Sun Wu killed the two beautiful concubines all the palace maids were quite terrified.The orders were to be o⁃beyed soundly and this showed that Sun's tactic worked very well.

Later“Repeatedly Give Injunctions”became an idiom which often means orders are repeated many times.The commander emphasizes the order repeated⁃ly and that should be done quickly and without delay.