a false alarm

杯弓蛇影

In Jin Dynasty there was a man named Yue Guang who was fond of drinking alcohol.

晉朝有個(gè)叫樂(lè)(yuè)廣的人，愛(ài)喝酒。

One day， he invited a friend to his house to drink together.

一天，他邀請(qǐng)朋友到家里來(lái)對(duì)斟對(duì)飲。

Suddenly， his friend saw the reflection of a snack swimming in the goblet.

忽然，朋友看見(jiàn)酒杯里有條蛇影在游動(dòng)。

He got so much frightened that he took ill on bed after getting home.

他受了驚嚇，回去便一病不起。

And neither any doctor or any medicine could cure his illness.

請(qǐng)醫(yī)服藥，都無(wú)起色。

Yue Guang came to see him and asked about the cause of his disease.

樂(lè)廣跑來(lái)看他，問(wèn)明起病的緣由。

When he got to know the cause， he pulled his friend from the bed immediately and took him to his house.

樂(lè)廣聽(tīng)后一把拉起朋友往家走。

Yue Guang made his friend sit where he used to， pouring a goblet of alcohol for him， and asked him，“ Is there any snake reflection in the goblet?”

他讓朋友坐在原處，斟滿(mǎn)酒問(wèn)：“有蛇影嗎?”

There was still a “snake reflection” in the goblet! Yue casually took away the bow hanging on the wall.

杯子里還有“蛇影”!樂(lè)廣隨手取下墻上的弓。

This time， the “snake reflection” disappeared.

這次，“蛇影”不見(jiàn)了!

“So it was the bow reflection that was in the goblet!” His friend at once got well from his illness.

“杯子里原來(lái)是弓影呀!”朋友的病情頓時(shí)好了!

其實(shí)“杯弓蛇影”的意思有點(diǎn)偏向于以前已經(jīng)講解過(guò)的“草木皆兵”，也有點(diǎn)“虛驚一場(chǎng)”的意思，英語(yǔ)中就可以用“a false alarm”，也就是“一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤的訊號(hào)”的意思。我們來(lái)一起通過(guò)下面一個(gè)小漫畫(huà)來(lái)更加了解這個(gè)成語(yǔ)吧~

Subway False Alarm

地鐵“杯弓蛇影”事件

On the subway yesterday morning and this guy I saw sleeping at the beginning of the subway (and then forgot about) fell totally on his face and completely on the floor.

昨天早晨在地鐵里我看到一個(gè)人睡著，然后俯身摔倒在地。

He kind of shook it off and got back into his seat.

結(jié)果他震醒了，又回到了自己的座位上。

Though for a moment I was thinking if he was really unconscious who would be the one to check him?

其實(shí)我原來(lái)還以為他真的已經(jīng)不省人事了，還在想有誰(shuí)能幫他檢查一下呢……