《声东击西》出处、故事、英文翻译、注释

3.声东击西

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【出处】《三十六计》第六计：敌志乱萃^[1]，不虞^[2]，坤下兑上^[3]之象，利其不自主而取之。《淮南子·兵略训》：“故用兵之道，示之以柔而迎之以刚，示之以弱而乘之以强，为之以歙而应之以张，将欲西而示之以东……”

【成语故事】东汉时期，为了联合西域的各个国家团结起来共同对抗匈奴，班超准备到西域去作各国的思想工作。他坚信，想要对抗匈奴，首先就得打通南北通道。但是，位于这条南北通道上的莎车国已经归附于匈奴，转而反对汉朝。于是，班超决定先平定莎车国。莎车国的国王得到消息后，马上向北边的龟兹国寻求援助，龟兹国的国王很爽快就答应了。他亲自率领50 000 人马，准备援救莎车国。在这种形势下，班超联合了于阗等国家，但是，就算加起来，兵力也只有25 000 人左右，和他们硬碰硬是不行的。于是，班超决定使用计谋：他派人故意在自己军队中散布对班超不满的话语，制造了“打不赢龟兹王就撤退”的假象，而且故意让这些话清楚地被莎车国的俘虏听到。这天黄昏，班超命令于阗大军向东撤退，自己率领军队向西撤退，表面上显得很慌乱，实际上是故意让俘虏趁机逃跑。莎车国俘虏逃回莎车营中后，急忙向上头报告汉军慌忙撤退的消息。龟兹王大喜，误以为班超是因为害怕自己而仓皇而逃，于是想趁此机会追杀班超。他立刻下令兵分两路，追击对手。他亲自率领了10 000 精兵向西追杀班超。班超趁夜幕笼罩大漠时，撤退十里地，然后马上让军队就地隐蔽。龟兹王一心想抓到班超，非常心急，结果率领着自己的军队从班超隐蔽的地方飞驰而过。说时迟那时快，班超立刻集合自己的军队，与事先约好的于阗人马，迅速回头杀向莎车国军队。没有防备的莎车国军队无力反击，很快就被瓦解了。来不及逃走的莎车王只能投降。而龟兹王追了一夜都没看见班超的影子，又听说莎车国已经被班超占领，知道自己大势已去，只好灰溜溜地返回自己的国家了。

【寓意】该成语的原意为将目标定为西边，而故意在东边制造声势，以迷惑对手，让其做出错误的判断，制定错误的对策，最终有利于局势的发展。比喻以虚假的动作或者行为来迷惑对方，使对方产生错觉而制胜的一种思想策略。

声东击西
To Sell the Dummy

3.To Sell the Dummy^[4]

【Idiomatic Story】In the Eastern Han Dynasty，there was a famous strategist and diplomatist named BAN Chao.In order to unite all the kingdoms in the Western Regions of China to fight against the Huns at that time，BAN Chao decided to negotiate with them one by one.At the time the Shache Kingdom had submitted to the Huns for fighting against the Han Dynasty.So BAN Chao decided to conquer the Shache Kingdom at first.Unexpectedly，the Shache Kingdom got the news and immediately asked the Qiuci Kingdom for help.The King of the Qiuci Kingdom agreed to offer help quickly by sending 50，000 soldiers for assistance.

At such a situation，BAN Chao allied some small kingdoms，including the Yutian Kingdom.However，the allied forces were no more than 25，000 soldiers.Obviously，it was unwise to fight recklessly against them.BAN Chao decided to do something strategically.He deliberately asked some soldiers to speak ill of him and made complaints about him.And he arranged some soldiers to talk about retreating from the battlefield under the overwhelming pressure of the Qiuci troops.He intentionally made these words heard by the captives.

In the early evening，BAN Chao ordered the forces of the Yutian Kingdom to retreat eastward，and he himself led the troops to retreat.The retreating action seemed in great hurry.It offered chances for the captives to ran away.When the captives ran back，they reported the retreating news to their officers.The King of the Qiuci Kingdom felt very glad on hearing the news，he thought BAN Chao was frightened to get away，so he ordered his troops to trail the enemy in two directions in order to defeat BAN Chao and kill him.

BAN Chao led his troops to retreat about 10 miles，he instructed his troops to wait in ambush in the desert under the cover of the dark night.The King of the Qiuci Kingdom was eager to catch BAN Chao，so he led his troops rapidly to pass the ambush that BAN Chao and his troops waited without any detection.On seeing the troops of the Qiuci Kingdom had left，BAN Chao immediately commanded his troops and the troops of the Yutian Kingdom going back to give a sudden attack to the Shache Kingdom.The Shache Kingdom was completely defeated under such a sudden and powerful attack.The King of Shache Kingdom had to surrender.

The King of Qiuci Kingdom hadn't found BAN Chao and his troops though he chased all night long.Not long，he got the news that the Shache Kingdom had been occupied by BAN Chao.The King of the Shache Kingdom had to surrender，he felt downcast and depressed and had to return to his own country with his troops.

【Implied Meaning】It originally means that the goal is set in the west，the troubles are made intentionally in the east to attract attention in order to confuse the enemy or opponent.It is often used to deceive the enemy or opponent by false operation.

【注释】

[1]萃：通悴，憔悴。

[2]不虞：未曾预料。

[3]坤下兑上：兑为泽，坤为地。坤下兑上即水淹大地，有洪水横流之象。

[4]sell the dummy 是指在橄榄球赛中，通过做假动作以欺骗对手。与成语“声东击西”的意思非常相近。