Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 惊弓之鸟 （Jīng Gōng Zhī Niǎo）

Cóngqián, Wèiguó yǒu gè jiào Gēng Léi de shén jiànshǒu. Yǒu yì tiān, tā hé Wèi Wáng yìqǐ chūqù yóuwán, kàn dào yì zhī dàyàn fēi lái. Tā duì Wèi wáng shuō:” wǒ zhī yòng gōng, bú yòng jiàn, jiù néng bǎ zhè zhī niǎo shè xiàlái.” Wèi Wáng bù xiàngxìn:” nándào nǐ shèjiàn néng dá dào zhè me gāo de shuǐpíng ma?”
从前，魏国有个叫更羸的神箭手。有一天，他和魏王一起出去游玩，看到一只大雁飞来。他对魏王说：“我只用弓，不用箭，就能把这只鸟射下来。”魏王不相信：“难道你射箭能达到这么高的水平吗？”

once upon a time, there was a marksman named Geng Ying in the state of Wei. One day, he along with Emperor Wei went out for some amusement. He spotted a wild goose flying ahead and he said to Emperor Wei, “I only have a bow, but I can shoot that bird down without an arrow.” Emperor Wei not believing him replied, “Could it really be that your archery has reached such a high level?”

Gēng Léi bǎi hǎo zīshì, lā kāi gōng xián, xū shè yí jiàn. Nà zhī dàyàn jìngrán zhēn de luò le xiàlái. Wèi Wáng jiǎn zhí bù gǎn xiàng xìn zì jǐ de yǎnjīng, wèn dào: ” Nándào nǐ de jiànshù zhēn de néng dào dá zhè gè jìng jiè?” Gēng Léi shuō :”zhè zhī dàyàn bèi rén yòng jiàn shāng guò. Tā shì tīng dào gōng xián xiǎng, shòu dào jīng xià diào xià lái de, bìng bú shì wǒ de jiànshù gāomíng.” Wèi wáng wèn:” nǐ zěnme zhīdào tā shòu guò shāng?” Gèng Léi jiěshì dào:”tā fēi dé hěn màn, jiàoshēng bēiqī, kěyǐ zhīdào tā líkāi yàn qún hěn cháng shíjiān le. Tā shāng kǒu téngtòng, yòu shì dúzì fēixíng, jīng kǒng de xīnlǐ hái méiyǒu xiāochú. Tīng dào gōng xián xiǎng, wèi le táomìng, tā huì pīnmìng wǎng gāochù fēi, yí yòng lì shāngkǒu lièkāi, jiéguǒ jiù diào xià lái le.”
更羸摆好姿势，拉开弓弦，虚射一箭。那只大雁竟然真的落了下来。魏王简直不敢相信自己的眼睛，问道：“难道你的箭术真的能到达这个境界？”更羸说：“这只 大雁被人用箭伤过。它是听到弓弦响，受到惊吓掉下来的,并不是我的箭术高明。”魏王问：“你怎么知道它受过伤？”更羸解释道：“它飞得很慢，叫声悲凄，可 以知道它离开雁群很长时间了。它伤口疼痛，又是独自飞行，惊恐的心理还没有消除。听到弓弦响，为了逃命，它会拼命往高处飞，一用力伤口裂开，结果就掉下来 了。”

Geng Ying positioned himself, drew back his empty bowstring and feigned the shot of his arrow. The wild goose did indeed fall from the sky. Emperor Wei simply could not believe his eyes and asked, “Could it really be that your archery has reached such a high level?”Geng Ying replied, “This wild goose has been wounded by an arrow once before. When he heard the sound of my bow, he fell out of fear, not because my archery is good.”Emperor Wei asked, “How did you know he was injured?”Geng Ying explained, “He was flying slowly and singing sadly. It is evident that he left the flock a long time ago. His wounds were aching, and his flight lonesome, fear had not been removed from his heart. When he heard the sound of my bow, desperate in his attempt to escape, he reached for the heights with all his might. However, his very effort caused his wounds to split, and so he fell.”

Words：
魏国Wèiguó： the Kingdom Wei (n.)
大雁dàyàn： wild migratory goose (n.)
姿势zīshì： posture (n.)
弓弦gōngxián： bowstring (n.)
虚xū： in vain (ad.)
箭术jiànshù： archery (n.)
悲凄bēiqī： mournful (a.)
裂开lièkāi： to split(v.)

Meanings：
“惊弓之鸟”本义是被指弓箭吓怕了的鸟。比喻受过惊吓或者打击的人，遇到类似的情况，就会惊恐不安。
The original meaning of “惊弓之鸟”is a bird afraid of a bow. It is a metaphor for someone who was shocked or stricken at one time, who when encountering a similar situation becomes terrified.
Sentences：

1.Yīnwèi qùnián shìchǎng hěn bù wěndìng, hěn duō shāngjiā sǔnshī jùdà. Xiànzài tā men xiàng jīnggōng-zhīniǎo, bù gǎn dàliàng jìnhuò le.
因为去年市场很不稳定，很多商家损失巨大。现在他们像惊弓之鸟，不敢大量进货了。

Because the market was not stable and many merchants suffered huge loss last year, now they are extremely frightened and do not dare to make large investments.

2.Zhè zhī duìwǔ zài qiáo shàng bèi tōuxí guò, yǐ shì jīnggōng-zhīniǎo, zài guò qiáo shí, dōu hěn dānxīn.。
这支队伍在桥上被偷袭过，已是惊弓之鸟，再过桥时，都很担心。

This troop, having suffered a surprise attack on the bridge before were left in shock. They are now worried about crossing the bridges again.