一鼓作气Accomplish in One Go

Accomplish in One Go （成语 一鼓作气 英文）


In the spring of the tenth year of the reign of Duke Zhuang(1), the State of Qi started to attack the State of Lu. Duke Zhuang was preparing to flight the war when Cao Gui asked for an audience. A villager, however, advised Cao,"War is the affair of the ministers.Why trouble to interfere?" To this Cao replied,"They are short-sighted; they can't think deeply and plan carefully for a war."

So Cao entered the court. When he saw the Duke, he asked him,"What makes Your Highness think that you can go to war?"

"Firstly, food and clothing give the people comfort; I dare not claim all for myself but share with them," the prince answered.

"Good. The people will certainly not follow your order before kindnesses, small as they may be, are given to all," Cao commented. "Sacrificial animals and jades and stilks which are marked for offering to the gods I dare not make a false account of, and I see to it that all is true and correct."

"The gods will not bless one when he is not true to his word even in small matters."

"Though I am not able to look into all cases,big or small, I make a point of judging every one fairly and carefully."

"This is a matter of full devotion to one's duty. Well, from what you have said, you can go to war. When you do, I request you to let me follow you to the batlefield," Cao finally appealed.

As promised, the Duke let Cao Gui sit by him in his chariot, when the battle was about to be fought at Changshao in the State of Lu.

With his troops deployed, the Duke wanted to beat the battle drum to start an attack. But Cao said,"Not yet." And not until the Qi troops had beaten their drums three times did Cao cry,"Now is the time to beat ours."

The Lu troops then charged and defeated the troops of Qi. The Duke of Lu was eager to pursue the retreating enemy, but he was again stopped by Cao who said,"Not yet."Instead, Cao alighted and had a look at the tracks of Qi's retreating cbariots, and then climbed on to the front horizontal bar of his chariot and looked into the distance for a while. Finally he said,"All right, go ahead." The Qi troops were thus driven out of the Lu territory.

After the victory was won, the Duke asked Cao Gui the reason for all his actions. Cao Gui'reply was:"In battle, it is all a matter of morale. The first beating of the drum is to rouse the soldiers to action. If no action is taken, then at the second beating their morale dwindles and at the third, it melts. When the enemy was at the end of their enthusiasm, we were just full of go. That is the time to attack. Because of this we were able to defeat them. Again, in the face of a powerful state like Qi, it is difficult to see through its tactics.I was therefore afraid that they might have an ambush ready for us,but when I found that during the retreat their chariot tracks were disorderly and their banners all down, I knew we could chase them out."

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(1) the year 684 BC during the Spring and Autumn period。

一鼓作气(chinese idioms)

鲁庄公十年的春天，齐国军队攻打我们鲁国，鲁庄公将要迎战。曹刿请求庄公接见。他的同乡说：“大官们会谋划这件事的，你又何必参与呢？”曹刿说：“大官们眼光短浅，不能深谋远虑。”于是进宫廷去见庄公。曹刿问庄公：“您凭什么跟齐国打仗？”庄公说：“衣食是使人生活安定的东西，我不敢独自占有，一定拿来分给别人。”曹刿说：“这种小恩小惠不能遍及百姓，老百姓是不会听从您的。”庄公说：“祭祀用的牛羊、玉帛之类，我从来不敢虚报数目，一定要做到诚实可信。”曹刿说：“这点诚意难以使人信服，神是不会保佑您的。”庄公说：“大大小小的案件，虽然不能件件都了解得清楚，但一定要处理得合情合理。”曹刿说：“这才是尽本职的事，可以凭这一点去打仗。作战时请允许我跟您去。”

鲁庄公和曹刿同坐一辆战车。在长勺和齐军作战。庄公（一上阵）就要击鼓进军，曹刿说：“（现在）不行。”齐军擂过三通战鼓后，曹刿说：“可以击鼓进军啦。”齐军大败。庄公正要下令追击，曹刿说：“还不行。”（说完就）下车去察看齐军的车印，又登上车前横木望齐军（的队形），（这才）说：“可以追击了。”于是追击齐军。

打了胜仗以后，鲁庄公询问取胜的原因。曹刿答道：“打仗，要靠勇气。头通鼓能振作士兵们的勇气，二通鼓时勇气减弱，到三通鼓时勇气已经枯竭了。敌方的勇气已经枯竭而我方的勇气正盛，所以打败了他们。（齐是）大国，难以摸清（它的情况），怕的是有埋伏，我发现他们的车印混乱，军旗也倒下了，所以才下令追击他们。”

一鼓作气,比喻:趁劲头大的时候鼓起干劲，一口气把工作做完