惊弓之鸟
战国时魏国有一个有名的射箭能手叫更羸。有一天，更羸跟随魏王到郊外去游玩。玩着玩着看见天上有一群鸟从他们头上飞过，在这群鸟的后面，有一只鸟吃力地在追赶着它的同伴，也向这边飞来。
更羸对魏王说：“大王，我可以不用箭，只要把弓拉一下，就能把天上飞着的鸟射下来。”“会有这样的事？”魏王真有点不相信地问。更羸说道：“可以试一 试。”过了一会儿，那只掉了队的鸟飞过来了，它飞的速度比前面几只鸟要慢得多，飞的高度也要低一些。这只鸟飞近了——原来是只掉了队的大雁，只见更羸这时 用左手托着弓，用右手拉着弦，弦上也不搭箭。他面对着这只正飞着的大雁拉满了弓。只听得“当”的一声响，那只掉了队正飞着的大雁便应声从半空中掉了下来。
魏王看到后大吃一惊，连声说：“真有这样的事情！”便问更羸不用箭是凭什么将空中飞着的鸟射下来的。更羸笑着对魏王讲：“没什么，这是一只受过箭伤的大雁。”“你是怎么知道这只大雁是受过了箭伤的呢？”魏王更加奇怪了，不等更羸说完就问。
更羸笑着继续对魏王说：“从这只大雁飞的姿势和叫的声音中知道的。”更羸接着讲：“这只大雁飞得慢是它身上的箭伤在作痛，叫的声音很悲惨是因为它离开同伴 已很久了。旧的伤口在作痛，还没有好，它心里很害怕。当听到弓弦声响后，更害怕再次被箭射中，于是就拼命往高处飞。它心里本来就害怕，加上拼命一使劲，本 来未愈的伤口又裂开了，疼痛难忍，翅膀再也飞不动了，它就从空中掉了下来。”
故事中的大雁听到弓弦声响后就惊惶万分，是因为它身上受过箭伤。
这个故事的寓意是指有人在某一件事情上吃过亏，于是就老是害怕再次发生类似的事情，可以说是惊弓之鸟。
Like a Startled Bird
Have you heard the Chinese idiom “A bird that is startled by the mere twang of a bow-string”? In Chinese, it reads “jing gong zhi niao.” As usual, the idiom has a story behind it.
In ancient times, in the State of Wei, lived a famous archer called Gen Lei (更羸). His skill with the bow was exceptional. He could hit the bull’s-eye a hundred times out of a hundred.
One day, he went out to hunt with the king. After a while, they saw a bird flying towards them from the east. Gen Lei said to the king, “Let me shoot the bird without using an arrow.” The king asked: “Is your skill so great that you can even do that?” Gen Lei said, “Yes, I think I can do it.” At that moment, the bird began to fly above them. Without using an arrow, Gen Lei extended the string of his bow as far back as it would go. He took aim at the bird and plucked at the string. “Twang” – the bird heard the sound and dropped from the sky.
The king was very excited and praised his high skill, “Terrific! You do have such skill.”
Gen Lei replied, “That’s a wounded bird.” “How did you know?” asked the king. Gen Lei said, “The bird was flying slowly and crying sadly. It must have had a wound to be flying so slowly. It was crying because it probably lost its mate. Its wound hadn’t healed and it had not recovered from the fright. So when it heard the twang of a bow, it tried its best to fly higher but by exerting itself, the bird only succeeded in opening its wound. And thus it dropped to the ground.”
This story gave rise to the expression – “jing gong zhi niao” or “a bird that is startled by the mere twang of a bow-string”. We use the idiom to describe a badly frightened or nervous person.
(Source:english.cri.cn)
