狐假虎威
The fox and the tiger: borrowing a tiger’s power
Name: ________________ Date: ________
两千多年前，有一只老虎饿了，出去找吃的。它一下就抓住了一只狐狸。
狐狸心里很害怕，可是它马上大声说：“你敢吃我？天帝让我来管所有的动物，我就是动物们的王！你吃了我，天帝会很生气的。”
老虎不太相信。
狐狸说：“不信？那你跟在我后面，我们去走一走。你看看，哪个动物见了我不害怕！”
就这样，它在前面走，老虎在后面跟着。小鸟看见了，马上飞走了；兔子看见了，马上跑了；别的动物看见了，也都不见了。
老虎想：“原来它真的是动物们的王！”老虎不知道，大家怕的其实不是狐狸，是走在后面的自己。
狐狸笑着问：“怎么样？还吃我吗？”老虎说：“不吃了，不吃了！您慢走。”
这个故事来自两千多年前的《战国策》。那时候，楚国有一个大官，北方的国家都很怕他。楚王问：“这是真的吗？”一个叫江乙的人就讲了这个故事。他说：大家怕的其实不是他，是站在他后面的大王您。
今天，“狐假虎威”的意思是：自己没什么本事，可是借着别人的力量，让别人害怕。比如：“他只是经理的朋友，可是天天狐假虎威，对同事说话很不客气。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 饿 | è | hungry |
| 心里 | xīnli | in one's heart; in one's mind |
| 害怕 | hàipà | to be afraid; to be scared |
| 动物 | dòngwù | animal |
| 生气 | shēngqì | to get angry; to be mad |
| 相信 | xiāngxìn | to believe; to trust |
| 信 | xìn | letter |
| 别的 | biéde | other; else |
| 其实 | qíshí | actually; in fact |
| 故事 | gùshi | story; tale |
| 来自 | láizì | to come from; to originate from |
| 国家 | guójiā | country; nation; state |
English (for the teacher)
More than two thousand years ago, a tiger got hungry and went out looking for food. In no time it had caught a fox.
The fox was terrified, but it immediately shouted, “You dare to eat me? The Lord of Heaven sent me to rule all the animals. I am the king of the animals! Eat me, and the Lord of Heaven will be very angry.”
The tiger didn’t quite believe it.
“Don’t believe me?” said the fox. “Then follow behind me and we’ll take a little walk. You’ll see: there isn’t an animal that isn’t afraid when it sees me!”
So off they went, the fox walking in front and the tiger following behind. The birds saw them and flew straight off; the rabbits saw them and ran; every other animal that saw them vanished too.
The tiger thought, “So it really is the king of the animals!” What the tiger didn’t know was that the animals weren’t afraid of the fox at all, but of the one walking behind it: the tiger itself.
The fox smiled and asked, “Well? Still going to eat me?” “No, no, not any more!” said the tiger. “Mind how you go, sir!”
This story comes from the Zhanguo ce, more than two thousand years old. At the time, the state of Chu had a high official whom all the northern states feared. The King of Chu asked, “Is this true?” A man named Jiang Yi answered by telling him this story. What they really fear isn’t him, he said; it’s you, Your Majesty, standing behind him.
Today 狐假虎威, “the fox borrows the tiger’s might”, means having no real ability yourself but using someone else’s power to scare people. For example: “He’s only the manager’s friend, but he throws the manager’s weight around every day and is rude to everyone he works with.”