Meaning of the Idiom
bei gong she ying（Mistaking the Reflection of a Bow in the Cup for a Snake）
Yue Guang was very hospitable. One day he invited a friend to have a drink in his hall.
While drinking, his friend thought he caught a glimpse of a small snake swimming around in his cup. Though disgusted, he swallowed the wine down, but the thought of the snake nauseated him. As soon as he got home, he fell ill.
After a few days, Yue Guang heard about his friend’s illness and its cause. He thought that there couldn’t be a snake in the wine cup. So he went to inspect the place where they had the drink and eventually found the cause: on the wall of the hall hung a colourful bow, the shadow of which happened to throw exactly at the place where his friend had put his wine cup.
Yue Guang hurried to his friend’s home and told him about this. As soon as his friend came to understand that it was not a snake but the reflection of a bow in his cup, he got over his illness at once.
杯弓蛇影
bēi gōng shé yǐng ，原义是将映在酒杯里的弓影误认为蛇，后比喻因疑神疑鬼而引起恐惧。
出自《风俗通义·怪神》。
例句
他胆子很小，常常杯弓蛇影，自己吓自己。
大伙儿看了都没事，只有他杯弓蛇影地吓了一身汗。
做了亏心事的人，就会整天杯弓蛇影，心神不宁。
Reading The Paragraphs!
Meaning of Words
| 词语 | 华文解释 | 英文解释 |
|---|---|---|
| 宴请 | 意思是设宴招待。 例句：新闻发布会后，大使还宴请了所有出席的嘉宾。 | fete; entertain |
| 觥筹（gōng chóu）交错 | 觥：古代的一种酒器；筹：行酒令的筹码。觥筹交错表示酒杯和酒筹杂乱地放着，形容许多人聚会喝酒时的热闹场景。 例句：婚礼后的酒会上，宾客们觥筹交错，并纷纷祝贺新人。 | toast each other |
| 猜拳行令 | 意思是划拳行酒令。形容宴饮欢畅。 例句：宴会刚开始，这一桌的客人就开始猜拳行令、大声喧哗，让周围的宾客不胜其扰。 | play drinker’s wager game |
| 瞥见 | 意思是很快地看了一下，也指无意中看到某事。 例句：小明路过邻居家，无意中瞥见有个陌生人在院子里鬼鬼祟祟。 | to glimpse at |
| 碍于 | 指被某种原因阻挡而不能做某事。 例句：虽然小明知道小文也喜欢自己，但碍于周围都是同学，他不敢向小文表白。 | for fear of hurting somebody’s feelings |
| 情面 | 意思是私人间的情分和面子。 例句：他这个人非常有原则，即使批评朋友也毫不留情面。 | feeling |
| 硬着头皮 | 意思是勉强去做难度较大的事情。 例句：爸爸说过，无论什么困难的事，只要硬着头皮去做，就闯过去了。 | forced myself to do it |
| 纳闷 | 意思是因为疑惑而发闷。 例句：小雨不明白师傅的意思，又不敢问，只能在心里纳闷。 | puzzled; wonder |
| 支支吾吾 | 指说话时言语遮遮掩掩，含混躲闪。 例句：在妈妈询问下，小明一直支支吾吾，不敢把学校发生的事说出来。 | falter; hesitate in speaking |
| 再三追问 | 指反复不停、多次的询问。 例句：经过妈妈的再三追问，小明才说出学校里发生的事情。 | repeatedly ask |
| 盛情难却 | 意思指浓厚的情意难以推辞。 例句：朋友们再三要为我饯行，因盛情难却，我只好接受。 | be hard to turn down the warm-hearted offer |
| 勉强 | 意思是能力不够的情况下还尽力做；或做非自愿的事，也有将就或凑合的意思。 例句：虽然最近身体一直不好，但这项工作我勉强还能坚持下来。 | reluctantly |
| 一病不起 | 意思是得病后就再也起不了床；比喻得病后病情一天天恶化，终至死亡。 例句：在创作完成后，画家却终因积劳成疾，一病不起。 | to take to one’s bed and never leave it again |
| 目瞪口呆 | 形容因吃惊或害怕而瞪大眼睛、说不出话的样子。 例句：福尔摩斯刚讲出凶手的名字，所有在场的人全都目瞪口呆，愣在那里。 | stunned |
| 恍然大悟 | 意思是对某一事物突然明白、突然醒悟。 例句：听了小明的解释，爸爸这才恍然大悟。 | suddenly be enlightened |
| 疑窦顿开 | 意思是所有的疑问突然得到了解释和答案。 例句：读完了信，小明疑窦顿开，终于明白了小文的良苦用心。 | all the questions were suddenly answered |
Daily Language 