| cǎo | mù | jiē | bīng | ||||||
| 草 | 木 | 皆 | 兵 | ||||||
| gōng | yuán | nián | qín | wáng | fú | ||||
| 公 | 元 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 年 | , | 秦 | 王 | 苻 |
| jiān | lǜ | lǐng | bù | bīng | qí | bīng | |||
| 坚 | 率 | 领 | 步 | 兵 | 、 | 骑 | 兵 | 9 | 0 |
| wàn | gōng | dǎ | jiāng | nán | de | jìn | zhāo | ||
| 万 | , | 攻 | 打 | 江 | 南 | 的 | 晋 | 朝 | 。 |
| zài | yī | lún | zhàn | bài | hòu | fú | jiān | cóng | |
| 在 | 一 | 轮 | 战 | 败 | 后 | , | 苻 | 坚 | 从 |
| chéng | qiáng | fǔ | shì | zhōu | zāo | dāng | tā | kàn | |
| 城 | 墙 | 俯 | 视 | 周 | 遭 | , | 当 | 他 | 看 |
| dào | shì | bù | kě | pò | de | dōng | jìn | bù | duì |
| 到 | 势 | 不 | 可 | 破 | 的 | 东 | 晋 | 部 | 队 |
| tā | gǎn | dào | hěn | hài | pà | ||||
| , | 他 | 感 | 到 | 很 | 害 | 怕 | 。 | ||
| cǐ | shí | fú | jiān | zài | shòu | chūn | chéng | shàng | |
| 此 | 时 | , | 苻 | 坚 | 在 | 寿 | 春 | 城 | 上 |
| wàng | jiàn | jìn | jūn | duì | wǔ | yán | zhěng | shì | |
| 望 | 见 | 晋 | 军 | 队 | 伍 | 严 | 整 | , | 士 |
| qì | gāo | áng | zài | běi | wàng | bā | gōng | shān | |
| 气 | 高 | 昂 | , | 再 | 北 | 望 | 八 | 公 | 山 |
| zhǐ | jiàn | shān | shàng | yī | cǎo | yī | mù | dū | |
| , | 只 | 见 | 山 | 上 | 一 | 草 | 一 | 木 | 都 |
| xiàng | jìn | jūn | de | shì | bīng | yī | yáng | yú | |
| 像 | 晋 | 军 | 的 | 士 | 兵 | 一 | 样 | , | 于 |
| shì | gèng | jiā | kǒng | huāng | |||||
| 是 | 更 | 加 | 恐 | 慌 | 。 | ||||
| hòu | lái | fú | jiān | quán | jūn | fù | méi | dài | |
| 后 | 来 | 苻 | 坚 | 全 | 军 | 覆 | 没 | , | 带 |
| zháo | shǎo | shù | cán | yú | de | duì | wǔ | táo | huí |
| 着 | 少 | 数 | 残 | 余 | 的 | 队 | 伍 | 逃 | 回 |
| qù | le | ||||||||
| 去 | 了 | 。 | |||||||
| zhè | gè | chéng | yǔ | hòu | lái | xíng | róng | rén | zài |
| 这 | 个 | 成 | 语 | 后 | 来 | 形 | 容 | 人 | 在 |
| jí | dù | jīng | kǒng | shí | yí | shén | yí | guǐ | |
| 极 | 度 | 惊 | 恐 | 时 | , | 疑 | 神 | 疑 | 鬼 |
| de | xīn | lǐ | zhuàng | tài | |||||
| 的 | 心 | 理 | 状 | 态 | 。 | ||||
| tā | lǎo | dài | zài | jiā | lǐ | cóng | bù | ||
| 她 | 老 | 待 | 在 | 家 | 里 | , | 从 | 不 | |
| jiāo | xīn | péng | yǒu | gǎn | jué | cǎo | mù | ||
| 交 | 新 | 朋 | 友 | , | 感 | 觉 | “ | 草 | 木 |
| jiē | bīng | ||||||||
| 皆 | 兵 | ” | 。 | ||||||
| In AD 383, the king of Former Qin (秦朝), Fu Jian (fú jiān 苻坚), led a huge army to attack Eastern Jin. |
| After losing the first round of fighting, Fu Jian looked down from a city wall, and was terrified when he saw the formidable battle array of the Eastern Jin army. |
| And then looking at the mountains around, he mistook the grass and trees for enemy soldiers. |
| As a result, when the nervous Fu Jian led his army into battle, it suffered a crushing defeat. |
| This idiom describes how one can defeat oneself by imaging difficulties. |
| She stays at home all the time and never makes any new friends. She seems to be afraid of her own shadow. |
| index pinyin-less version |