There was an archer named Geng Ying in the State of Wei. He went sightseeing with the King of Wei at Jingtai. At that time a bird was circling around in the sky, uttering sad and shrill cries now and then. The King of Wei looked up at it for a while and said to Geng Ying:

　　魏國(guó)有位射手名叫更贏。他跟隨魏王在京臺(tái)游玩。這時(shí)有一只鳥(niǎo)在空中盤旋，還不時(shí)發(fā)出凄厲的叫聲。魏王抬頭看了一會(huì)兒，便對(duì)更贏說(shuō):

　　"Do you see that bird? Can you shoot it down?"

　　“你看見(jiàn)那只鳥(niǎo)了嗎?你能把它射下來(lái)嗎?”

　　"I can shoot it down without using an arrow," Geng Ying said.

　　更贏說(shuō):“這只鳥(niǎo)，我不用箭就能把它射下來(lái)。”

　　After a while, the bird flew near. Geng Ying pulled his bow to the full, plucked the bowstring, and at the sound the bird fell to the ground before their feet.

　　一會(huì)兒，那只鳥(niǎo)飛近了，更贏拉滿弓，撥動(dòng)了一下弓弦，鳥(niǎo)就應(yīng)聲落在他們跟前。

　　The King of Wei said in surprise:

　　魏王驚奇地說(shuō):

　　"You can shoot down a bird without an arrow. Your skill in archery is really wonderful."

　　“你不用箭就能把飛鳥(niǎo)射下來(lái)，你射箭的技術(shù)真高明啊!”

　　Geng Ying said:

　　更贏說(shuō):

　　"Your Majesty, this is not due to my good skill, but because this is a bird of bad luck. You can hear how sadly and shrilly it wailed, and see how tiredly it flew. It was already wounded, and for a long time could not find its companion. Therefore it couldn't stand the least fright. As soon as I twanged my bow, it thought it had been shot and fell down of its own accord from the sky. What a pitiful bird frightened by the mere twang of a bowstring!"

　　“大王，這不是我的技術(shù)高明，而是因?yàn)檫@是一只倒霉的鳥(niǎo)。你聽(tīng)它叫得那樣凄厲，飛得那樣疲乏。它已經(jīng)負(fù)了傷，很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間找不到伴侶，所以經(jīng)不起一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的驚嚇。我的弓弦一響，它就以為是被射中了，自己從空中跌落下來(lái)，多么可憐的驚弓之鳥(niǎo)啊!”