During the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), there was a county magistrate called Ying Chen. One summer day, he invited his secretary Du Xuan to his house and treated him to wine. On the north wall of the hall hung a red bow, which was reflected in Du Xuan's cup. Du Xuan took the reflection for a squirming snake. He was very frightened but dared not turn down Ying Chen's offer because Ying Chen was his superior. He swallowed the wine with his eyes closed.
Back home, he felt so painful in his chest and stomach that he could hardly eat and drink anymore. He sent for the doctor and tried many medicines, but nothing could cure him.
When Ying Chen came to Du Xuan's home and asked him how he became so ill, Du told him that he drank the wine with a snake in his cup the other day. Ying Chen felt so puzzled about that. He returned home and contemplated it but couldn't find an answer. Suddenly, the red bow on the north wall caught his eye. "That's it!" he shouted. He immediately sent his man to fetch Du Xuan. He seated Du Xuan where he sat before and offered him a cup of wine.
Du Xuan saw the snake-like shadow again. Before Du was scared out of his wits again, Ying Chen pointed at the shadow and said, "The 'snake' in the cup is nothing but a reflection of the bow on the north wall!"
Now that Du Xuan knew what it was, he felt much easier. His illness disappeared the next moment!
This story was later contracted into the idiom, "mistaking the reflection of a bow in the cup for a snake." We use it to describe someone who is very suspicious.
bēi gōng shé y?ng
杯弓蛇影
?????? 在漢朝，有個縣令名叫應郴。有一年夏天，他請主簿（辦理文書事務的官員）杜宣來家里飲酒。酒席設在廳堂里，北墻上懸掛著一張紅色的弓。由于光線折射，酒杯中映入了弓的影子。杜宣看了，以為是一條蛇在酒杯中蠕動。他非常害怕，但縣令是他的上司，所以不敢不飲。他只得閉著眼睛喝了幾口。
?????? 回到家里，杜宣只覺胸腹部疼痛異常，難以忍受，吃飯、喝水都非常困難。他趕緊請大夫來診治。他服了許多藥，但病情還是不見好轉。
?????? 當應郴到杜宣家中，問他怎么會鬧病的，杜宣便講了那天飲酒時酒杯中有蛇的事。應郴覺得非常奇怪。他回到家，反復思考，就是弄不明白杜宣酒杯里怎么會有蛇的。 突然，北墻上的那張紅色的弓引起了他的注意。“原來是這樣! ”他大喊道。應郴馬上命人把杜宣接來，讓他坐在原位上，并遞給他一杯酒。
?????? 杜宣又看到了那像蛇一樣的影子。趁他還沒被嚇得魂飛魄散，應郴指著那倒影說：“你說的杯中的蛇，不過是墻上那張弓的倒影罷了！”
?????? 杜宣弄清原委后，感覺輕松多了，病也立刻就痊愈了。
?????? 這則故事后來演化為成語“杯弓蛇影”，用以形容那些非常多疑的人。
liào shì rú shén
料事如神
predict like a prophet; foretell with miraculous accuracy; foresee with divine precision
