The fox borrows the tiger's ferocity (狐假虎威 hu jia hu wei)


There once was a king called Chu Xuan Wang. He found that many people were afraid of one of his generals, and thought this was rather strange. He asked his prime minister for his opinion on the matter. The prime minister answered by telling this story:

"Long ago, a tiger lived in a cave. One day, he was very hungry, so he walked out of the cave and wandered through the forest looking for food. As he was walking, he suddenly came across a fox. He crept slowly toward the fox and pounced, trapping the fox. The tiger thought to himself, "Now I will have a delicious lunch." But when he opened his mouth and was about to devour the fox, the cunning fox said, "Tiger, you shouldn't eat me." The tiger asked, "Why?" The fox replied, "I was sent by God to be the king of the whole forest. If you eat me, God will punish you." The tiger was puzzled: "You are the king of the forest? I don't believe you. Unless you can prove that you are, I will eat you." The fox said, "Then follow me through the forest to see whether the animals are afraid of me or not."

The tiger thought this was a good way to prove whether what the fox said was true, so he followed the fox deep into the forest. They had not gone very far before they came upon some small animals fighting over food. But when the animals saw the tiger behind the fox, they quickly fled in all directions.

"The fox looked triumphantly at the tiger and said: "Now you see how all the animals in the forest fear me?"

Now the tiger really believed that the fox was the most fearsome animal in the forest.

But the tiger didn't realize that the animals were really afraid of the tiger himself.

The fox's plot was successful as he used the tiger's powerful presence to strike fear into the animals. The clever fox took advantage of the temporary presence of the tiger to threaten the other animals. The poor tiger was fooled, but he never realized it!

This story shows that although people are afraid of the general, the king is the one who controls the army. The people seem to fear the military powers, but in fact, they are afraid of the king himself.

This fable is about depending on other people's power to oppress others.

有一位国王叫楚宣王(xuān wáng),他发现很多人都很害怕他手下的一个大将军,他感到很奇怪.于是他就问他的大臣这是为什么,大臣向他讲了下面的这个故事:

从前,有一只老虎住在山洞(shān dòng)里.有一天,他感到很饿,所以就走出山洞,在森林里到处找食物吃.走着走着,他突然发现了一只狐狸(hú li),它向狐狸猛扑过去,一把抓住了狐狸.心想,这下我可有一顿美味的午餐了.可是当他张开嘴巴,正要把那只狐狸吞进(tūn jìn)肚子里的时候,狡猾的狐狸连忙说:"老虎,你不能吃我."老虎问到:"为什么?"狐狸说:"我是天帝派到林中来做百兽之王(bǎi shòu zhī wáng)的,你如果吃了我,天帝是会惩罚(chéng fá)你的."老虎觉得很奇怪,说,"你是百兽之王?我不相信,除非你能证明给我看.否则(fǒu zé),我就吃掉你."狐狸说:"那你跟在我后面在森林里走一走,看看动物们是不是都害怕我."

老虎想这倒也是个办法,于是就让狐狸在前面带路,自己在后面跟着,向森林的深处走去.他们没走多久,就看到很多小动物在争抢(zhēng qiǎng)食物吃,但是当他们一看到走在狐狸后面的老虎时,吓得纷纷(fēn fēn)逃跑(táo pǎo).

狐狸得意(dé yì)地回过头来对老虎说:"现在你该看到了吧?森林里的动物,谁敢不怕我?"

这下老虎真的相信,狐狸才是森林里最厉害的动物,于是他把狐狸放走了.

但是老虎并不知道,其实动物们害怕的是他自己.

狐狸之计得逞(dé chěng)了,可是他的威势完全是假借(jiǎ jiè)老虎,才能凭(píng)着一时有利的形势去威胁(wēi xié)群兽,而那可怜的老虎被人愚弄(yú nòng)了,自己还不知道呢!

这个故事说明,人们害怕大将军,完全是因为大王的兵权掌握在他手里,也就是说,他们畏惧的其实是大王的权势.

这个成语比喻倚仗(yǐ zhàng)别人的势力来欺压(qī yā)人.

The Man who Worried too Much (杞人忧天 qi ren you tian)


Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom called Qi (now Qi County in Henan Province). In this kingdom lived a man who had very little courage and always worried about everything. He thought about very strange things and everyone thought the man was very odd. He was worried that the sky would fall down and flatten his head like a pancake. He worried that the earth would sink and that he would be buried beneath it. The more he thought, the more frightened he was. During the day, he couldn't eat, and at night, he didn't dare to sleep.

In this way, the man became thinner and thinner and was unwell both in body and mind. A kindhearted man saw this and was worried that the frightened man would ruin his health. The good man went to speak to the cowardly man:

"The sky is all around us, made up of gases in the atmosphere. Every time you move or breathe, you have contact with the sky. Why are you afraid that the sky will fall down?"

The man from Qi half-believed, half-doubted the wise man's words: "If the sky is really just a collection of gases all around us, what about the sun, moon, and stars? Can they fall out of the sky?" The wise man replied, "No, no! The sun, moon, and stars are also made of gases and even if they fell out of the sky, they could not hurt anyone. You can relax."

The man from Qi asked, "But what would happen if the earth fell?" The kindhearted man answered, "The earth is made of solid dirt and rocks. North, south, east, and west, everywhere on the earth is made of dirt and rocks. You can walk, run, and jump everyday. There is much activity on the surface of the earth, but you see you have no reason to worry about it falling."

After the man from Qi heard this, he felt as though a 1,000 kilogram weight had been taken off his mind. His face lit up with a smile. The kindhearted man was also very happy because he had relieved the man from Qi's worries.

The moral of this story is that one should not worry about unnecessary matters or worry about something without a concrete reason. Although the kindhearted man's explanation of the sky, sun, moon, stars, and earth was not scientific (it just shows what the knowledge of science was at that time), his caring deeds and willingness to help others are worth praising.

杞人忧天(qǐ rén yōu tiān)

从前有一个小国家叫杞(今河南省杞县).杞国有一个人,胆子很小,整天胡思乱想(hú sī luàn xiǎng).他想的那些奇怪的问题,让人觉得很可笑.他一会儿担心天会塌(tā)下来,砸扁(zá piān)了脑袋;一会儿又担心地会陷(xiàn)下去,埋(mái)住了全身.他越想越害怕,白天吃不下饭,晚上不敢睡觉.

就这样,他越来越瘦了,弄得自己身心疲惫(pí bèi).有一个热心人看到他那忧愁烦心(yōu chóu fán xīn)的样子,担心他把身体弄坏了,就去劝导他说:

"天只不过是一股积聚(jī jù)的气体,上下左右到处都有.人的一举一动,一呼一吸都要和它接触.你整天在气体里活动,为什么还要担心它会掉下来呢?"

这个杞国人半信半疑地问:"如果天真是一股积聚的气体,那么天上的太阳、月亮和星星不就都要掉下来了吗?""不会,不会!"那个人回答,"太阳、月亮和星星也不过是一些会发光的气团.就是掉下来,也不会伤人的.你尽管放心."

杞国人又问,"那么地陷下去怎么办呢?"热心人说:"地只不过是堆积(duī jī)起来的土块罢了.东西南北到处都有这样的土块.你东走西跑,蹦蹦(bèng bèng)跳跳,成天在地上活动,根本不必担心它会塌陷下去."

杞国人听了,心里好像放下了千斤重担(zhòng dàn),脸上露出了笑容.那个热心人,因为解除了杞国人的忧愁,也十分高兴.

这个成语表示不必要的或缺乏依据(yī jù)的忧虑(yōu lǜ)和担心.虽然那个热心人对天、地和日月星辰的解释是不科学的(只能代表当时的认识水平),但他那种关心别人、帮助别人的做法还是值得称赞(chēngzàn)的.

专横跋扈

专横跋扈 [zhuānhènɡbáhù]

1. 1. [Chinese idiom] Arrogant and despotic.

对于总经理助理专横跋扈的行为， 员工们敢怒不敢言。

duì yú zŏngjīng lĭ zhù lĭ zhuān héng bá hù de xíng wéi, yuán gōng men găn nù bù găn yán.

The staff felt indignant but dared not say a word about the imperious and despotic acts of the general manager.