中國成語寓言故事78:A Bird Frightened by the Mere Twang of a Bowstring驚弓之鳥(雙語)
There was an archer named Geng Ying in the State of Wei. He went sightseeing with the King of Wei at Jingtai. At that time a bird was circling around in the sky, uttering sad and shrill cries now and then. The King of Wei looked up at it for a while and said to Geng Ying:
魏國有位射手名叫更贏。他跟隨魏王在京臺游玩。這時有一只鳥在空中盤旋，還不時發出凄厲的叫聲。魏王抬頭看了一會兒，便對更贏說:
"Do you see that bird? Can you shoot it down?"
“你看見那只鳥了嗎?你能把它射下來嗎?”
"I can shoot it down without using an arrow," Geng Ying said.
更贏說:“這只鳥，我不用箭就能把它射下來。”
After a while, the bird flew near. Geng Ying pulled his bow to the full, plucked the bowstring, and at the sound the bird fell to the ground before their feet.
一會兒，那只鳥飛近了，更贏拉滿弓，撥動了一下弓弦，鳥就應聲落在他們跟前。
The King of Wei said in surprise:
魏王驚奇地說:
"You can shoot down a bird without an arrow. Your skill in archery is really wonderful."
“你不用箭就能把飛鳥射下來，你射箭的技術真高明啊!”
Geng Ying said:
更贏說:
"Your Majesty, this is not due to my good skill, but because this is a bird of bad luck. You can hear how sadly and shrilly it wailed, and see how tiredly it flew. It was already wounded, and for a long time could not find its companion. Therefore it couldn't stand the least fright. As soon as I twanged my bow, it thought it had been shot and fell down of its own accord from the sky. What a pitiful bird frightened by the mere twang of a bowstring!"
“大王，這不是我的技術高明，而是因為這是一只倒霉的鳥。你聽它叫得那樣凄厲，飛得那樣疲乏。它已經負了傷，很長時間找不到伴侶，所以經不起一點點的驚嚇。我的弓弦一響，它就以為是被射中了，自己從空中跌落下來，多么可憐的驚弓之鳥啊!”
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