日暮途窮之歷史故事--中國成語故事中英對照
In the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Ping of Chu was misled by slanderers（誹謗者） , and had Wu Zixu's father executed. Wu Zixu fled to the State of Wu. More than then years later, Wu Zixu took his revenge by helping. Wu conquer Chu. Yet he suffered agonies of remorse（懊悔，同情） , because his countrymen called him a traitor. He protested, "I'm just like a traveller. It's already late, but I still have a long way to go. I simply dont know what to do."
This idiom comes from the above story. It means being in a very difficult situation at the end of one's tether（范圍，栓繩） .
戰國時，楚平王的太子建有兩個老師，一個是伍奢，一個是費無忌。費無忌得到楚平王的寵愛，可是他又怕太子登位后會對他不利，于是他便誣告太子。沒想到平王竟然相信，還把太子調到邊關去。但是費無忌還是不放心，擔心太子找機會報復，因此他又將伍奢囚禁，并且派人殺害太子。
心狠的費無忌還不愿罷休，他想到伍奢有兩個兒子，于是他又派人殺害了伍奢和他的大兒子，只有伍奢的小兒子伍員逃走了。平王聽信費無忌的謊言，認為伍員是叛徒，因此下令追捕伍員。伍員為了逃命，一夜之間頭發胡子全白了。后來他逃到了吳國，幫助吳王，建議派兵攻打楚，經過五次戰爭，終于打到楚國都城，這時平王已死，伍員為了報殺父兄之仇，便挖出平王的尸體，親自鞭尸。伍員的老朋友知道之后便責備他。傷心的伍員對他說：“我像一個走路的人，此時天色已晚，但是路卻很遠，所以會做些違背常理的事。”
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