During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC)， the State of Chu not very powerful. The king and the important court officials were dissolute and incompetent. They indulged in luxury and excessive pleasure all the time. Zhuang Xin, one of the ministers foresaw that the country was in danger. One day he remonstrated with the king: “Your Majesty, wherever you go, you're always surrounded by people who flatter you with what you like. They try everything to make you happy so that you forgot to tend to state affairs. If you go on like this, no doubt, the country will perish sooner or later.”
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 is especially fond of those corrupt officials and trust them in everything, the minister thought Chu is bound to extinct. 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. When the king saw Zhuang Xin again, he asked him, “What can I do now?”
Zhuang Xin replied, “It's not too late if you mend the sheepfold when you find a sheep is missing.” He then made some good suggestions to rehabilitate the state and recover the lost land. The king was very much pleased.
The idiom “Mend the fold after a sheep is lost” has developed 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.
戰國時期，楚襄王統治楚國時，國勢不振。楚王和重要的大臣都荒淫無能。他們一直沉溺於奢侈享樂之中。大臣莊辛預見到楚國會發生危險。一天他勸諫楚王説：“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！” 莊辛解釋説：“我不敢詛咒楚國，但我可以預言楚國正面臨着巨大的危險。” 莊辛見楚王如此寵信那些腐朽的大臣，相信楚國必定要亡國。於是他向楚王請求離開楚國，到趙國居住一段時候。
楚王同意了，他便到趙國去了。五個月之後，秦君果然派軍入侵楚國，佔領了大片土地。楚王被迫流亡。這時，他想起了莊辛的勸諫，於是派人接莊辛回來。楚王見了莊辛，便問：“現在我該怎麼辦呢？”
莊辛回答説：“丟了羊，就把羊圈修好，不算遲。”然後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。比喻事情出了差錯，有了損失，如果及時補救，還能夠彌補，吸取教訓。
【重點掌握詞彙】
淫 dissolute 無能 incompetent 沉溺 indulge
奢侈 luxury 奉承 flatter 惡毒 vicious
詛咒 curse 流亡 exile
【拼音】
wáng yáng bǔ láo
【解釋】
亡：逃亡，丟失；牢：關牲口的圈。羊丟失了再去修補羊圈，還不算晚。比喻出了問題以後想辦法補救，可以防止繼續受損失。
【出處】
《戰國策·楚策》：“見兔而顧犬，未為晚也；亡羊而補牢，未為遲也。”
【舉例造句】
張學良始則失地，今幸固守錦州，亡羊補牢，可稱晚悟。
【近義詞】
見兔而顧犬
【反義詞】
後悔莫及
【用法】
作主語、謂語、賓語；指知錯就改
【成語來源】
It is never too late to mend.亡羊補牢
Once upon a time, there was a shepherd who kept several sheep.從前有個人，養了幾隻羊。
One morning, the shepherd discovered that one of his sheep was turned out that, during the night, a wolf had stolen his sheep through a hole in the sheep pen.一天早上，他發現少了一隻羊。原來羊圈破了個窟窿，夜間狼從窟窿裏鑽進來把羊叼走了。
His neighbor suggested to him: “You should fix the pen and cover the hole right away.” 鄰居勸告他説：“趕快把羊圈修一修，堵上那個窟窿吧。”
But the shepherd said: “The sheep is already lost, so I don't need to repair it.” And so he rejected the neighbor's suggestion.他説：“羊已經丟了，還修羊圈幹什麼呢？”他沒接受鄰居的勸告。
The next morning, he discovered that another sheep was again, the wolf stole the sheep through the hole in the fence.第二天早上，他去放羊，發現又少了一隻羊。原來狼又從窟窿裏鑽進來把羊叼走了。
The shepherd regretted not taking the neighbor's he plugged the hole to secure the sheep pen.他很後悔沒有接受鄰居的勸告，他趕快堵上那個窟窿，把羊圈修得結結實實的。
From then on, no more sheep was stolen by the wolf.從此，他的羊再沒有被狼叼走了。
【文化鏈接】
“亡羊補牢”這個故事中的'主人公雖然因為不聽他人意見，而使自己蒙受了損失，但是後來經過自己的補救，使同樣的情況沒有再發生，所以現在我們常用這個成語表達“出現了問題，只要及時補救，都還來得及”。
英語中如果想表達同樣的意思，我們可以説“It is never too late to mend.”，也就是“補救永遠不嫌太晚”。
In the past, there was a man who kept thirty sheep.
從前，有一個人，養了三十隻羊。
One morning, he discovered that one sheep was missing.
一天早上，他發現少了一隻羊。
Where had it gone?
這隻羊到哪兒去了呢？
Upon examination, he found that his fold was damaged.
再一查看，原來是他的羊圈壞了。
During the night a wolf had broken into the fold and devoured the sheep.
夜裏狼闖進羊圈，羊是被狼吃掉的。
His friend said to him: “You had better mend the fold quickly.”
他的朋友對他説：“快把羊圈修理修理吧！”
He said: “The sheep had already been devoured by the wolf. What is the use of mending the fold?”
他説： “羊已經被狼吃了，修理羊圈還有什麼用呢？”
He did not l 本站 isten to his friend's advice.
他沒有聽取朋友的意見。
The following morning, he discovered that during the night the wolf had again broken into the fold and devoured another sheep.
第二天早上，他發現夜裏狼又闖進羊圈，又吃掉了一隻羊。
Not until then did he realize that his friend was right.
這時候，他才明白，朋友的意見是對的。
Consequently, he mended the fold at once, and thereafter no more sheep were devoured by the wolf.
於是，他馬上把羊圈修理好。從此，他的羊再也沒有被狼吃掉過。
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