in the warring states period, duke wei of qi neglected state affairs, for the first three years of his reign1, giving himself over to dissipation（浪费，损耗） . one of his ministers, chun yukun who had a good sense of humour, said to him: 'there is a *g *rd which has neither taken wing nor sung for three years.' the duke answered, 'once that *rd starts to fly and sing, it will astonish（使惊讶） the world.' the duke thereupon（于是，随即） devoted2 himself to his duties and built his state up into a powerful one.
this idiom is used to indicate that a person may rise from obscurity（朦胧，阴暗） and achi* greatness.
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