亡羊补牢Mend the Fold After a Sheep is Lost

Mend the Fold After a Sheep is Lost（成语 亡羊补牢 英文）


Zhuang Xin(1), an aristocrat of the State of Chu, said to the King Xiang of the State of Chu,"In the palace you have Marquis Zhou and Marquis Xia to keep you company and when you are out in the carriage you have the two merchant-princes Yanling and Shoulin as you retinue. You have been wallowing in luxury and pleasure and neglecting state affairs. Alas, our capital Ying(2) is in danger and bound to fall."

"Have you lived so long that you've grown muddle headed?" King Xiang reproached him."And do you dare to foretell the fortune and misfortune of a state?"

"But as I see it, these things are bound to happen. It is not that I dare guess the fate of our land," explained Zhuang Xin."If Your Highness does not mend his ways, and keeps on favouring those four men, Chu is doomed to fall. Would you kindly let me take refuge in the State of Zhao and stay there for a while, till we see what is going to take place?"

So,Zhuang Xin went to Zhao, and it was only five months later that Qin attacked Chu and seized such places as Yan, Ying,Wu,Shangcai and Chen, and King Xiang had to quit the capital to seek shelter at Chengyang. At that hour KIng Xiang dispatched his attendant on horseback to invite Zhuang Xin to see him. To this summons Zhuang Xin readily responded.

When Zhuang Xin arrived, King Xiang said to him,"I regret I didn't follow your advice. Now, you see my situation, what shall I do?"

"Well, I heard a popular saying," Zhuang Xin rejoined."It runs:' It is not too late to look back and signal you hound to give chase, even after you have already caught sight of a running hare. Nor is it too late to mend the fold even after some of your sheep have been lost.'" Zhuang Xin paused and then continued,"Besides, we all know that in the early days Emperor Tang and Emperor Wu(3) started with a small state of a hundred square li but gradually won the world, whereas Emperor Jie and Emperor Zhou,(4) though they already had the world in their hands, finally lost it. Now,though Chu has been reduced to a small size, it still has, discounting the poor land and counting only the good, several thousand square li left, much more than a hundred. It is not a small state at all is it?..."

On hearing this,... King Xiang made Zhuang Xin the Marquis of Yangling and granted(5) him the land north of the Huai River.

______________remark________________
(1) who lived in the Warring States Period(475-211 BC), a descendent of Chu Zhuangwang, hence his surname being Zhuang.
(2) in present-day Hubei Province.
(3) referring to the first Emperor Tang of the Shang Dynasty and the first Emperor Wu of the Zhou Dynasty, both known for their winning the world by justice and benignity in rule.
(4) referring to the last Emperor Jie of the Xia Dynasty and the last Emperor Zhouof the Shang Dynasty, both known for their loss of the world because of their misrule cruelty and luxurious life.
(5) "Grant" is suspected to be a mistaken word. It should read"recover", mening "Chu recovered most of the land north of the Huai River."

亡羊补牢(chinese idioms)

　　庄辛对楚襄王说：“君王左有州侯右有夏侯，车后又有鄢陵君和寿陵君跟从着，一味过着毫无节制的生活，不理国家政事，如此会使郢都变得很危险。”楚襄王说：“先生老糊涂了吗？还是认为楚国将遇到不祥呢？”庄辛说：“臣当然是看到了事情的必然后果，不必认为国家遇到不祥。假如君王始终宠幸这四个人，而不稍加收敛，那楚国一定会因此而灭亡的。请君王准许臣到赵国避难，在那里来静观楚国的变化。”

庄辛离开楚国到了赵国，他只在那里住了5个月，秦国就发兵攻占了鄢、郢、巫、上蔡、陈这些地方，楚襄王也流亡躲藏在城阳。在这时候襄王才派人率骑士到赵国召请庄辛。庄辛说：“可以。”

庄辛到了城阳以后，楚襄王对他说：“寡人当初不听先生的话，如今事情发展到这地步，对这事可怎么办呢？” 庄辛回答说：“臣知道一句俗语：‘见到兔子以后再放出猎犬去追并不算晚，羊丢掉以后再去修补也不算迟。’臣听说过去商汤王和周武王，依靠百里土地，而使天下昌盛，而夏桀王和殷纣王，虽然拥有天下，到头来终不免身死亡国。现在楚国土地虽然狭小，然而如果截长补短，还能有数千里，岂止100里而已？

楚襄王听了庄辛这番话之后，大惊失色，全身发抖。在这时才把执?的爵位送给庄辛，封他为阳陵君，不久庄辛帮助楚王收复了淮北的土地。

亡羊补牢,比喻事后的补救。