Yíjiànshuāngdiāo
To shoot two hawks with one arrow
Chinese Stories– yăn ĕr dào líng
南北朝时,北周有个叫长孙晟的武官,善
Nánbĕicháo shí, bĕizhōu yŏu ge jiào Zhăngsūn Shèng de wŭguān, shàn
于射箭,智谋过人,因此被朝廷派遣护送公主
yú shèjiàn, zhìmóu guò rén, yīncĭ bèi cháotíng pàiqiăn hùsòng gōngzhŭ
到西北突厥族去成婚。突厥族国王很器重他,把
dào xī bĕi tūjuézú qù chénghūn. Tū juézú guówáng hĕn qìzhòng tā, bă
他留下来,随自己一起去打猎,国王看见有两只大
tā liú xià lái, suí zìjĭ yì qĭ qù dăliè, guówáng kànjiàn yŏu liăng zhī dà
雕在空中争夺一块肉,便请他将雕射
diāo zài kōngzhōng zhēngduó yí kuài ròu, biàn qĭng tā jiāng diāo shè
落,长孙晟拉开弓,一箭射去,竟同时将
luò, Zhăngsūn Shèng lā kāi gōng, yí jiàn shè qù, jìng tóngshí jiāng
两只大雕射了下来。
liăng zhī dàdiāo shè le xià lái.
English Translation
During the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zhang Sun Sheng, a wise sharp-shooting military attache from the Northern State, was sent on a mission: to escort the princess to the Turkic Clan’s territory in the northwest to be married. The King of the Turkics appreciated Zhang Sun Sheng’s shooting ability and kept him to go hunting with him. While on the hunt, they saw two big eagles in the sky fighting over a piece of meat, so the king asked him to shoot the eagles. Unexpectedly, he shot both eagles at the same time. So now people usually use the idiom to describe a situation where one action can accomplish two goals.
Example
这次英语竞赛,既提高了我的英语会话水平,又
Zhècì yīngyŭ jìngsài, jì tígāo le wŏ de yīngyŭ huìhuà shuĭpíng, yòu
结识了几位外国朋友,真可谓一箭双雕。
jiéshí le jĭ wèi wàiguó péngyou, zhēn kĕ wèi yíjiànshuāngdiāo.
This English contest not only improves my spoken English ability, but also helps me meet some foreign friends. It’s just like killing two birds with one stone.