中國寓言故事雙語版 第31期:楚人涉江

Once upon a time, the State of Chu planned to attack the State of Song.

古時候，有一次，楚國準備進攻宋國.

But the Yong River was the naturAl barrier against its surprise attack at night.

而癱河是楚國夜間偷襲宋國的天然障礙。

To overcome this obstacle, the State of Chu sent men to secretly measure the depth of the Yong River and make marks for wading across the river at night.

爲了越過這個障礙，楚國派人悄悄地去測量灘水的深度，並且做好了夜間涉水過河的標記。

But when night came, the water in the Yong River suddenly rose;

誰知到了夜裏，灘河的水暴漲，水位升一高。

yet the Chu army still tried to stealthily cross the river according to the marks made in the daytime.

但是，楚國人卻仍然按照白天做的標記偷渡。

As a result, over 1,000 soldiers were drowned.

結果淹死了一千多人。

There was utter chaos of desperate cries and shoutings on the river.

河面上哭聲喊聲一片混亂。

All at once, the army collapsed like a fallen building, and was routed.

頓時，隊伍就像房屋倒塌一樣，潰不成軍。

According to the marks, the Chu army would have been able to cross the Yong River during the day;

按照所做的標記，楚軍白天是可以渡過灘河的;

but the rising water changed the situation in the night.

然而，夜間水情已經發生變化。

Yet the Chu army still tried to wade across the river according to the marks made in the daytime,

楚軍卻仍然按照白天的標記渡河，

so naturally they failed.

自然他們要失敗了