have one foot in the grave

病入膏肓

In the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋時(shí)期，770-476 BC)， King Jing of the State of Jin (晉國) fell ill. And he heard that there was a doctor of exceptional skill， so he dispatched person to invite the doctor.

春秋時(shí)期，晉景公有一次得了重病，聽說秦國有一個(gè)醫(yī)術(shù)很高明的醫(yī)生，便專程派人去請(qǐng)來。

One night he dreamed that the disease turned into two little kids talking beside him.

有一晚，晉景公恍惚中做了個(gè)夢(mèng)。夢(mèng)見了兩個(gè)小孩，正悄悄地在他身旁說話。

One said， “I’m afraid the doctor will hurt us.”

一個(gè)說：“那個(gè)高明的醫(yī)生馬上就要來了，我看我們這回難逃了，我們躲到什么地方去呢?”

The other said， “Do not worry. We can hide above ‘huang’ and below ‘gao’. Then the doctor will be able to do nothing to us.”

另一個(gè)小孩說道：“這沒什么可怕的，我們躲到肓的上面，膏的下面，無論他怎樣用藥，都奈何我們不得。”

The next day， having examined the king， the doctor said， ‘Your disease is incurable， I am afraid， Your Majesty. It’ above huang and below gao， where no medicine can reach.’

翌日，秦國的名醫(yī)到了，立刻被請(qǐng)進(jìn)了晉景公的臥室替晉景公治病。診斷后，那醫(yī)生對(duì)晉景公說：“這病已沒辦法治了。疾病在肓之上，膏之下，用灸法攻治不行，扎針又達(dá)不到，吃湯藥，其效力也達(dá)不到。這病是實(shí)在沒法子治了。”

The idiom indicates a hopeless condition.

這個(gè)成語意喻事情到了無可挽回的地步。

英文中“病入膏肓”可以說成“have one foot in the grave”，就是“一只腳在墳?zāi)估?rdquo;的意思，形容一個(gè)人已經(jīng)行將就木，病的很重。這個(gè)短語與中文一樣，可以引申指“事態(tài)很嚴(yán)重”，比如可以說“某國經(jīng)濟(jì)已經(jīng)病入膏肓”就可以說“……economy already has one foot in the grave”。