誠信英語短文-楚王擊鼓

One day, King Li of the State of Chu announced to the people: If any emergency occurs in our country, the drum will be beaten as a signal. The moment the people hear the drum, they must assemble outside the palace gate at once.

One day, King Li out drunk, when he passed by the drum stand, he started to beat the drum at random. When the people heard the drum, they ran from all directions to the palace gate, thinking that some emergency had occurred in the country. They stood all around in a dense mass.

King Li sent someone to tell them:”Just now the King beat the drum, but nothing urgent had happened, it was only because the King got drunk and when he passed by the drum stand, he beat the drum just for fun.”

All the people returned to their homes , feeling angry.

A few months later, some emergency really occurred in the State of Chu. The drum outside the palace gate sounded from early morning until night. Though the people heard the drum, they no longer cared about it and didn’t rush to the palace gate.

譯文：

楚厲王通告老百姓：假如國家發生急事，就以擊鼓為信號，老百姓一聽到鼓聲響，就必須立刻到宮門外集合。

有一次，厲王喝醉了酒，從鼓架旁邊走過，就胡亂地擊起鼓來。老百姓聽到鼓聲，以為國家發生了什麼急事，都從四面八方到宮門外來了，黑壓壓地站了一片。

厲王派人告訴大家説：“剛才國王喝醉了酒，走過鼓架旁邊，為着好玩，才擊了一陣子鼓。”

老百姓都回家去了，但是都很氣憤。

隔了幾個月，楚國真的'發生了緊急情況，宮門外的鼓“咚咚咚”地從早晨響到晚上。可是，老百姓雖然聽到鼓聲，卻不再把它當做一回事而趕到宮門前來了