【水泄不通】

 【水泄不通】

" to be packed like sardines" means so tight that not even a drop of water can leak through.

 

During the Spring and Autumn Period, King Ping of Chu(楚平王) was licentious and immoral.

 

He married the wife of his son, Crown Prince Jian, and sent Jian far north.

 

The loyal minister Wu She (伍奢) offered honest advice, but to no avail.

 

Instead, he was accused of treason and imprisoned.

His eldest son, Wu Shang (伍尚), was also tricked and arrested.

 

Only his youngest son, Wu Zixu(伍子胥), cleverly escaped.

 

After killing Wu She and Wu Shang, King Ping issued an edict:

 

"The traitors Wu She and Wu Shang have been executed;

 

only Wu Zixu has escaped.

 

Whoever can capture Wu Zixu alive will be rewarded with a thousand catties of gold and a fief of ten thousand households;

 

anyone who harbors or releases him will have their entire family executed."

 

With this edict, heavy troops were deployed everywhere, and defenses were extremely tight, as if not a drop of water could leak through.

 

The idiom " to be packed like sardines" may have originated from this story,

 

used to describe something extremely tightly surrounded or overcrowded.

Q1  sardines 

     ➀鯊魚 ➁鯨魚 ➂沙丁魚 

Q2  Spring and Autumn Period

     ➀春秋時代 

     ➁戰國時代 

     ➂三國時代 

Q3  Prince ➀公主 ➁王子 ➂皇后 

Q4  heavy troops

     ➀重金 ➁重兵 ➂重病 

Q5  overcrowded

     ➀稀疏 ➁擁擠 ➂通暢 

Q6  水泄不通

     ➀重重包圍 

     ➁擁擠不堪 

     ➂以上皆是

 

「水泄不通」就是連一點水都無法泄漏。 

春秋時楚平王荒淫無道，娶太子建的妻子為妃，並把太子建遠派北方。

 

忠臣伍奢直言忠諫無效，反被指有謀叛之心而遭囚禁，他的大兒子伍尚後來也被騙就逮，只有小兒子伍員（伍子胥）機警逃脫。

 

楚平王在殺了伍奢、伍尚後，頒布一道詔書：「逆賊伍奢、伍尚已處死，唯有伍子胥逃走。凡能活捉伍子胥的人，賞金千斤，封邑萬戶；如有收容縱放的，全家處斬。」

 

詔書一下，到處布滿重兵，防備得極為嚴密，猶如一點水也無法泄漏。

 

後來「水泄不通」這個成語可能就從這裡演變而出，用來形容包圍得極為嚴密，或形容擁擠不堪。