《狐假虎威》 "[The] Fox Feigneth [the] Tiger's Authority"

This idiom originates from a fable told in the Warring States' Strategies, compiled/edited by Liu Hiang. See also:

Translation

Source text Target text Notes
《狐假虎威》 "[The] Fox Feigneth [the] Tiger's Authority"
  • 威： authority; lit. might

The Chinese source text below is from Chinese Text Project, but with olden-style punctuation: 先秦兩漢 > 史書 > 戰國策 > 楚策 > 楚一 > 荊宣王問群臣.

Source text Target text Notes
荊宣王問群臣曰、吾聞北方之畏昭奚恤也、果誠何如。 King Süan of King asked [his] group of ministers, saying, I hear of [the] North's fear of Chao Hee‑süt; if [it be] true, what of [it]?
  • 荊： King

    Another name for the state of Chʻu (楚).

  • 群： group; or gathering
  • 昭奚恤： Chao Hee‑süt

    The name of a high military official of Chʻu.

群臣莫對。 [And his] group of ministers could not reply.
江一對曰、虎求百獸而食之、得狐、 [But] Kiang Yit replied, saying, [A] tiger sought [the] hundred beasts [to] then eat them, [and] gat [a] fox.
  • 江一： Kiang Yit

    A minister of King Süan of King. In another manuscript he is called 江乙, also Kiang Yit.

狐曰、子無敢食我也、天帝使我長百獸、今子食我、是逆天帝命也。 [And the] fox said, Thou darest not eat me. [The] Emperor of Heaven [hath] made me be leader over [the] hundred beasts; shouldst thou eat me, this [shall] defy [the] will of [the] Emperor of Heaven.
  • 子： thou; lit. master
  • 長： be leader over

    長、上聲、 Cantonese: chœng2, Mandarin: zhǎng

  • 逆： defy; or go against
  • 命： will; lit. command; or mandate
子以我為不信、吾為子先行、子隨我後、觀百獸之見我而敢不走乎。 [Shouldst] thou think me untrustworthy, [let] me walk first for thee, [and] thee follow after me, [and] observe, [who] of [the] hundred beasts [shall] see me and dare run not?
虎以為然、故遂與之行、獸見之皆走。 [The] tiger thought so, therefore [he] then walked with him. [The] beasts seeing him all ran.
虎不知獸畏己而走也、以為畏狐也。 [The] tiger knew not [that the] beasts feared himself and ran, [but] thought [that they] feared [the] fox.
今王之地方五千里、帶甲百萬、而專屬之昭奚恤、 Today King's territory [spanneth a] circumference of five thousand miles, [with] armour-donning [soldiers a] million, and exclusively subordinate [are] they unto Chao Hee‑süt;
  • 地： territory; lit. land
  • 方： circumference
  • 里： miles

    A unit of distance, of the order half a kilometre.

  • 百萬： [a] million; lit. hundred myriad
故北方之畏奚恤也、其實畏王之甲兵也、猶百獸之畏虎也。 therefore [the] North's fear of Hee‑süt, it [is] actually fear of King's armoured troops, like [the] hundred beasts' fear of [the] tiger.

Cite this page

Conway (2023). "[The] Fox Feigneth [the] Tiger's Authority". <https://yawnoc.github.io/lit/fox-tiger> Accessed yyyy-mm-dd.