in the spring and autumn period, duke ping of chu was misled by slanderers（诽谤者） , and had wu zixu's father executed. wu zixu fled to the state of wu. * than then years later, wu zixu took his r*nge by *ing1. wu * chu. yet he suffered agonies of remorse2（懊悔，同情） , because his countrymen called him a traitor3. he protested, "i'm just like a traveller. it's already late, but i still have a long way to go. i simply dont know what to do."
this idiom comes from the above story. it means being in a very difficult situation at the end of one's tether（范围，栓绳） .
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