杯弓蛇影 Snake-like Reflection of a Bow in the Cup
Nearly 2,000 years ago, during the Han Dynasty, there was a county magistrate called Ying Chen. One summer day, he invited his secretary Du Xuan to his house and treated him with wine. On the north wall of the room hung a red bow. It was reflected in Du Xuan's cup. Du Xuan took the reflection for a squirming snake. He was very frightened but he dared not turn down Ying Chen's offer because Ying was his superior. He had to swallow the wine with his eyes closed.
When he was back at home he felt so painful in his chest and stomach that he could hardly eat and drink any more. He sent for the doctor and took some medicine, but nothing could cure him. When Ying Chen asked Du Xuan how he got so seriously ill, Du told him he drank the wine with a snake in his cup the other day. Ying Chen found something strange about that. He returned home , thought hard, but he could not find an answer. Suddenly the shadow thrown by the bow on the wall caught his eye. "That's it!" he shouted. He immediately sent his man to fetch Du Xuan. He seated him where he sat before and offered him a cup of wine. Du Xuan saw the snake-like shadow again. Before Du was scared out of his wits again, Ying Chen said , pointing at the shadow, "The 'snake' in the cup is nothing but a reflection of the bow on the wall!" Now that Do Xuan knew what it was, he felt much easier. And strange enough, his illness disappeared the next moment.
This story was later contracted into the idiom "Bei Gong She Ying'. It is used to describe someone who is very suspicious. It is like saying someone is afraid of his own shadow.
在大约2000年前汉朝的时候，有一个郡首叫应成。有一年夏天，他邀请他的部下杜轩到他家，并以酒招待。在屋子的北墙上挂着一张红色的弓。映入了杜轩的杯中，杜把影子当成了一条游动的蛇。他非常害怕可又不敢拒绝应成的款待因为应是他的领导。他只好闭着眼睛咽了那被酒。 当他回到家时，感觉胸和胃疼的厉害以至于不能吃喝。他去看了大夫还抓了些药，可病情不见好转。当应成问杜轩怎会病得如此严重时，杜告诉应成他喝了那杯蛇酒。 第二天，应成发现事有蹊跷，他回到家里，苦思冥想不得其解。突然他看到了挂在墙上的弓的影子，"原来如此"应成大叫。应成立刻派人去请杜轩，让他坐在自己原来坐的位置，并给他斟了杯酒。杜轩又看见了像蛇一样的影子。应成在杜快被吓晕之前，指着影子说："杯子里的蛇不过是挂在墙上的弓的倒影罢了。" 现在杜轩才明白就里，如释重负了。十分奇怪的是他的病也立刻没了。 这个故事后来就演变成了成语"杯弓蛇影"了。常用来形容那些因错觉而疑神疑鬼，自已惊扰自已的人。
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