中國成語典故中英對照:驚弓之鳥
A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string
During the time of the Warring States (475-221 BC)， there lived a well-known archer named Geng Ying whose art in shooting was excelled by none at his time.
One day, as he was standing by the side of the King of Wei, a flock of swan geese were flying over. With confidence, Geng Ying said to the king, "The twang of my bow-string might bring down a bird." The King doubted much. Just then a solitary swan goose appeared, low and slow in its flight, sad and dolorous in its cry. Instantly Geng Ying bended his bow and forcibly pulled the bowstring. Twang! High up went he shrilling sound into the air and down fell the bird to the ground. The king admired with bewilderment. Gang Ying then explained: "The bird was flying low and slow, because it was already hurt; it was crying in a bitter tone, because it had lost its companions. Due to the fact that it was already hurt and sad at heart, the twang of my strong bow, that birds dreaded most, startled it. The shrilling sound made its heart beat fast, its wings weak, its balance uneven. Thus it fell down just as commonly as a man drops his chop-sticks, at the thunder-stroke, at a dinner table." Henceforth comes the idiom "A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string", illustrating a case where a man who had been previously and repeatedly frightened became numb and stupefied by a new thing of the same nature not knowing how to face the new situation.
驚弓之鳥
戰國時期，有個杰出的弓箭手，叫做更贏。他的射箭本領在當時可稱是舉世無雙。有一天，他和魏王并肩站著，天空中忽然飛過一群鴻雁。更贏很自信的對魏王說："我可以用弓聲就把飛鳥給打下來。"魏王很懷疑。正在那是，一只孤雁很低很慢的飛過。鳴聲凄慘。更贏見了，就張著弓，扣著弦，砰的一聲，直入云宵。那孤雁果然應聲落地。魏王驚嘆之余，不明白這是怎么回事。更贏解釋說："那孤雁飛得低且慢，因為它已經受過傷；它鳴叫的聲音悲而哀，因為它離了群。身傷心碎，使它心跳加速，兩翼無力，體重失去平衡，正如人們吃飯時，突然聽見雷聲，筷子落地的情況一樣自然而平常。
后人根據上面的故事，做成了"驚弓之鳥"這個成語，形容先前多次受過驚嚇的人，忽然遇到同樣可怕的事物，就嚇得魂飛魄散，驚惶失措，不知如何去應付新的環境。
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