During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), the State of Chu became less powerful during the reign of King Xiang. The king and his important court officials were dissolute and incompetent and indulged themselves in luxury and excessive pleasure. Zhuang Xin, one of the ministers, foresaw that the country would soon be in danger. One day, he remonstrated with the king: "Your Majesty, wherever you go, you're always surrounded by people who flatter you. They do everything to make you happy so that you forget to tend to state affairs. If you go on like this, sooner or later, the country will perish."
The King of Chu flew into a rage. "How dare you! You even use such vicious words to curse my country and mean to arouse resentment among the people!" Zhuang Xin explained, "I dare not curse the State of Chu. But I really have a premonition that Chu is facing great danger." Seeing that the king was especially fond of those corrupt officials and trusted them in everything, the minister thought Chu was bound for extinction. So he asked the king to let him leave Chu. He wanted to go to the State of Zhao and stay there for a while.
The king gave him the leave. Five months later, the King of Qin sent his troops to invade Chu and occupied a large tract of its territory. The King of Chu himself went into exile. Now, the king remembered Zhuang Xin's words. He sent his men to fetch him. Seeing Zhuang Xin again, the king asked him, "What can I do now?"
Zhuang Xin replied, "It's not too late if you mend the sheepfold when finding a sheep is missing." He then made some good suggestions to rehabilitate the state and recover the lost land. The king was very pleased.
The idiom "Mend the fold after a sheep is lost" comes from Zhuang Xin's answer to the king. We still use this metaphor to advise someone that even when he has made a mistake and suffered losses, he can still remedy it by drawing lessons from the mistake.
wáng yáng bǔ láo
亡羊補牢
?????? 戰(zhàn)國時期，楚襄王統(tǒng)治楚國時，國勢不振。楚王和重要的大臣都荒淫無能，一直沉溺于奢侈享樂之中。大臣莊辛預見到楚國會發(fā)生危險。一天，他勸諫楚王說：“陛下，無論您走到哪兒，身旁總是那些奉承您的人，他們想盡辦法讓您高興，您就忘了處理國事。長此以往，國家遲早會滅亡的。”
?????? 楚王大怒：“大膽！你居然用這樣惡毒的話來詛咒我的國家，蓄意挑起人民的不滿！” 莊辛解釋說：“我不敢詛咒楚國，但我可以預言楚國正面臨著巨大的危險。” 莊辛見楚王如此寵信那些腐敗的大臣，相信楚國必定要亡國。于是他請求楚王讓他離開楚國，到趙國居住一段時間。
?????? 楚王同意了，他便去了趙國。五個月之后，秦君果然派軍入侵楚國，占領了大片土地。楚王被迫流亡。這時，他想起了莊辛的勸諫，于是派人接莊辛回來。楚王見了莊辛，便問：“現(xiàn)在我該怎么辦呢？”
?????? 莊辛回答說：“丟了羊，就把羊圈修好，不算遲。”然后他提出許多如何重振國家、收復失地的好謀略。楚王非常高興。
?????? 成語“亡羊補牢”就是由莊辛對楚王的回答而來。我們常用這個成語來比喻事情出了差錯，有了損失，如果吸取教訓，及時補救，還能夠彌補。
tiān yá h?i ji?o
天涯海角
end of the earth; remotest corners of the earth
