【懸崖勒馬】

 

【懸崖勒馬】

 

[reining in the horse at the edge of the cliff]

This phrase comes from the Yuan Dynasty

play *智勇定齊* by Zheng Guangzu(鄭光祖).

 

In the third act, the protagonist, Zhongli Chun, sets up a complex "Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams

"(九宮八卦) formation,

 

instructing her subordinate,

Heyanhu(合眼虎),

 

to feign defeat and lure the Qin general Sun Cao(孫操) into the trap.

 

After Sun Cao is captured,

Zhongli Chun(鍾離春) mocks him for failing to recognize her trap,

 

recklessly pursuing the feigning defeat and thus entering a perilous situation.

She compares it to a boat

reaching the middle of a river before patching leaks,

 

or a horse reining in at the edge of a precipice

—too late.

 

Now, trapped in the formation, there is no turning back!

 

The phrase "pulling back from the edge of the precipice"

 

means "to rein in one's horse at the edge of a cliff.

"(懸崖)

Pulling Back   

_ ____ Sep. ___  ___. 

Q1  (    ) cliff 

                  ➀高山 ➁流水 ➂懸崖 

Q2  (    ) Nine Palaces 

                   ➀八宮 ➁九宮 ➂十宮 

Q3  (    ➀) horse

牛 ➁馬 ➂羊

元．鄭光祖《智勇定齊》雜劇。劇中第三折講到主角鍾離春擺下一個「九宮八卦」的奇陣，要手下合眼虎詐敗，引誘秦兵的將領孫操入陣。

孫操入陣被縛之後，鍾離春就取笑他有眼不識她佈下的機關，只會猛追詐敗的敵將，讓自己誤入險境。

如今就像船開到江心，才要補漏，也好像臨斷崖才知勒馬，已經來不及了。

如今撞到陣中，正是有路回不得了！文中「臨崖勒馬纔收騎」的意思就是「臨懸崖而勒馬」。