中國(guó)成語(yǔ)故事中英對(duì)照 草木皆兵

　　be afraid of one's own shadow

　　草木皆兵

　　In AD 383, the king of Former Qin (秦朝), Fu Jian (fú jiān 苻堅(jiān)), led a huge army to attack Eastern Jin.

　　公元383年，秦王苻堅(jiān)率領(lǐng)步兵、騎兵90萬(wàn)，攻打江南的晉朝。

　　After losing the first round of fighting, Fu Jian looked down from a city wall, and was terrified when he saw the formidable battle array of the Eastern Jin army.

　　在一輪戰(zhàn)敗后，苻堅(jiān)從城墻俯視周遭，當(dāng)他看到勢(shì)不可破的東晉部隊(duì)，他感到很害怕。

　　And then looking at the mountains around, he mistook the grass and trees for enemy soldiers.

　　此時(shí)，苻堅(jiān)在壽春城上望見(jiàn)晉軍隊(duì)伍嚴(yán)整，士氣高昂，再北望八公山，只見(jiàn)山上一草一木都像晉軍的士兵一樣，于是更加恐慌。

　　As a result, when the nervous Fu Jian led his army into battle, it suffered a crushing defeat.

　　后來(lái)苻堅(jiān)全軍覆沒(méi)，帶著少數(shù)殘余的隊(duì)伍逃回去了。

　　This idiom describes how one can defeat oneself by imaging difficulties.

　　這個(gè)成語(yǔ)后來(lái)形容人在極度驚恐時(shí)，疑神疑鬼的心理狀態(tài)。

　　【文化鏈接】

　　英文中“草木皆兵”的相應(yīng)說(shuō)法可以用“afraid of one's own shadow”，也就是一個(gè)人連自己的影子都怕，當(dāng)一個(gè)人連自己的影子都怕的時(shí)候，是不是就是疑神疑鬼，“草木皆兵”了呢~~

　　我們來(lái)一起看一個(gè)例句吧~

　　She stays at home all the time and never makes any new friends. She seems to be afraid of her own shadow.

　　她老待在家里, 從不交新朋友，感覺(jué)“草木皆兵”。