during the time of the warring states (475-221 bc), there lived a well-known archer1（*手） named geng ying whose art in shooting was excelled by none at his time.
one day, as he was standing2 by the side of the king of wei, a flock of swan geese were flying over. with confidence, geng ying said to the king, "the twang（弦声） of my bow-string might bring down a *rd." the king doubted much.
just then a solitary3 swan goose appeared, low and slow in its flight, sad and dolorous4（忧伤的） in its cry. instantly geng ying bended his bow and forcibly pulled the bowstring（弓弦） . twang! high up went he shrilling5 sound into the air and down fell the *rd to the ground. the king ad*ed with bewilderment（困惑） . gang ying then explained: "the *rd was flying low and slow, because it was already hurt; it was crying in a *tter tone, because it had lost its companions. due to the fact that it was already hurt and sad at heart, the twang of my strong bow, that *rds dreaded6 most, startled it. the shrilling sound made its heart beat fast, its wings weak, its balance un*n7. thus it fell down just as commonly as a man *s his chop-sticks, at the thunder-stroke, at a dinner table."
henceforth comes the idiom "a *rd startled by the mere8 twang of a bow-string", illustrating9 a case where a man who had been previously10 and repeatedly frightened became numb11 and stupefied by a new thing of the same nature not knowing how to face the new situation.
__