Chinese practice
騎虎難下
(qi2 hu3 nan2 xia4)
Photo: Paul Cooper, Taipei Times
照片:台北時報記者古德謙
If you ride a tiger,
it’s difficult to get off
李白是盛唐傑出的詩人,也是中國歷史上最偉大的浪漫主義詩人,並有「詩仙」的稱號。
李白的「留別廣陵諸公」一詩中提及「騎虎不敢下」,此詩句後來衍生出成語「騎虎難下」,意即人騎上老虎後,因害怕下來時會被老虎傷害甚至吃掉,所以不敢下來,可譬喻一種無法退出或沒有出路的情況,不得已只能一直持續下去。
英文中也有一些類似的諺語,如 holding a wolf by the ears 與 holding a tiger by the tail,和「騎虎難下」有異曲同工之妙。兩者都一樣是以動物來代表危險。前者出自羅馬劇作家泰倫斯的作品佛密歐,後者跟「騎虎難下」一樣使用老虎作為譬喻。這兩個英文說法都講述一種難以持久的情況,不論動手或不動手解決都一樣不利。此外,英文也有”damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” 意即「做也不是,不做也不是」。(台北時報記者古德謙整理)
他自告奮勇要帶朋友去大峽谷玩,卻完全不會開車,如今騎虎難下。
(He offered to take some friends to see the Grand Canyon, even though he couldn’t drive. There’s no getting out of it now, though.)
她在面試時撒謊說自己日文流利,如今主管要她負責聯絡日本客戶,令她騎虎難下。
(During the interview, she fibbed about her Japanese fluency. Now the boss wants her to liaise with the Japanese clients. Hoist by her own petard.)
英文練習
holding a wolf by the ears;
damned if you do,
damned if you don’t
Li Bai, also known as Li Po, was a prominent Chinese poet from the High Tang. He is known as China’s greatest romantic poet, and was given the title “the immortal of poetry.” In his poem Farewell to the Gentleman of Guangling appears the line 騎虎不敢下, literally “once riding the tiger, you don’t dare dismount.” From this came the Chinese proverb 騎虎難下, meaning that once you are riding on the tiger’s back you are reluctant to get off, fearing being hurt, or even eaten, by the beast. It is used in referring to a situation from which one cannot retreat, or from which there is no way out, the only alternative being to continue in what you are doing.
There are similar phrases in English, such as “holding a wolf by the ears” or “holding a tiger by the tail,” with much the same meaning. Both use wild animals to represent danger. The former is taken from the play Phormio by the Roman playwright Terence; the latter, like 騎虎難下, invokes the tiger. Both English phrases describe an unsustainable situation, which remains risky whether you continue or desist. Another English phrase with this meaning is “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
After the Brexit referendum, the British government is left holding the wolf by the ears. It’s damned if it leaves Europe, and damned if it doesn’t.
(脫歐公投結果出來後,英國政府就陷入了騎虎難下的窘境。)
A: More and more K-drama actors are holding fan meetings in Taiwan lately. B: Which K-drama stars are visiting? A: In September alone, Jang Ki-yong, Lee Joon-gi and Lee Je-hoon are all coming. B: I really love Lee Joon-gi‘s 2022 drama “Again My Life.” A: Lee Je-hoon’s 2016 drama “Signal” is also great. His fan meeting is scheduled for Sunday, while Lee Joon-gi‘s is scheduled for Saturday. A: 最近多位韓劇男神紛紛來台舉辦粉絲見面會。 B: 有哪些韓星啊? A: 光是9月就有張基龍、李準基、李帝勳! B: 我超愛李準基2022年的神劇《Again My Life:正義的重生》。 A: 李帝勳2016年的《信號》也很經典唷,他的見面會在本週日,李準基的則在本週六。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Have you ever looked up into the sky on a clear day and seen an airplane flying high in the clouds? If so, you’ve probably also noticed the long white streaks it leaves behind in its path. They are called contrails, and there’s more to these white lines in the sky than meets the eye. The jet fuel that powers the engines of a plane is intensely hot, often burning at more than 500°C. In contrast, the air temperature at high altitudes where commercial flights typically cruise can reach as low as -56°C. When the hot exhaust gases, which include water
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Have you ever counted the number of keys on a piano? On a standard modern piano, the number of keys is 88. So, why is this the case? The piano is believed to have been invented around the beginning of the 18th century. It was first created as a modified version of the harpsichord. Most harpsichords at the time had 60 keys—covering five octaves, with each octave comprising seven white keys and five black keys. That’s why the earliest pianos also had 60 keys. The white keys on a piano are called natural keys and correspond to the musical