There is a tiger on the streets of the
capital. (三人成虎)
During the Warring States Period in China,
wars often occurred between each kingdom.
So there are kingdoms that are allied with
each other. Often, they each send their own princes as hostages to other
kingdoms to gain mutual trust.
(Wei Kingdom) will send a prince to (Zhao Kingdom)
as a hostage.
Because this task is very important, the
king specially arranged for his most trusted minister (Pang Chong) to go
together.
Before leaving, (Pang Chong) asked the
king. If a person told you today that a tiger appeared on the streets of the
capital, would you believe it?
The king answered. I certainly don't
believe it.
(Pang Chong) asked again. If a second
person tells you after a while, a tiger appears on the streets of the capital,
would you believe it?
The king thought about it and answered. I
still won't believe it.
Then (Pang Chong) asked again. If a third
person came to tell you that a tiger appeared on the streets of the capital,
would you believe it?
The king answered quickly. Then I will
believe it.
(Pang Chong) continued. It is impossible to
see tigers on the streets of the capital. This is a very certain thing. But why
do you believe this now?
During my absence from the kingdom, there
may be many people who hate me take advantage of this opportunity to slander
me. Please don't be fooled by these rumors.
The king agreed.
When (Pang Chong) left (Wei Kingdom), there
were many people who hated him take advantage of this opportunity to slander
him.
The king did not believe these rumors at
first, but later, he believed them.
This idiom is used as a metaphor for
sometimes rumors can cover up the truth.
Dear friend, what kind of inspiration or
ideas do you have after listening to this story?
Do you verify what you have heard? How do
you verify the facts you know are correct?
I hope this story will give you some new
gains.
三人成虎 (There is a tiger on the streets of
the capital)
中國的戰國時代，每個王國之間經常發生戰爭。
因此有些彼此結盟的王國。常常都各自派遣自己王國的王子當做人質到別的王國，以取得相互的信任。
(魏王國)就要派遣一位王子到(趙王國)去作為人質。
因為這任務很重要，所以國王特別安排了自己最信任的大臣(龐蔥)一起去。
出發前，(龐蔥)問國王。如果今天一個人告訴您，首都的大街上出現了一隻老虎，請問您會相信嗎？
國王回答。我當然不相信。
(龐蔥)接著又問。如果第二個人過了一會兒來告訴你、首都的大街上出現了一隻老虎，請問您會相信嗎？
國王想了一下然後回答。我還是不會相信。
(龐蔥)再問。如果這時候第三個人來告訴你，首都的大街上出現了一隻老虎，請問您會相信嗎？
國王很快的回答。那我就會相信了。
(龐蔥)接著說。首都的大街上根本不可能出現老虎，這是很確定的事情。但為何你現在卻相信這件事呢。
我不在王國內的這段期間，可能會有許多討厭我的人趁這個機會汙衊我。請您可千萬不要被這些謠言所騙啊。
國王表示同意。
當(龐蔥)離開(魏王國)後，果然有很多討厭他的人趁這個機會汙衊他。
國王起初也不相信這些謠言，但後來，他還是相信了這些謠言。
這句成語被用來比喻有時謠言可以掩蓋真相。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你是否會查證你所聽到的事情呢? 你如何去查證自已所認知的事實是不是對的呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。