吃乌鸦(英中对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
吃乌鸦
during an armistice of the anglo-american war of 1812-1814, an american unwittingly crossed the british lines while hunting and brought down a crow. he was approached by an unarmed british officer, who complimented him on his marksmanship and asked to see his gun. no sooner had the hunter handed it over than the officer turned it on him and forced him to take a bite out of the crow. when the officer returned the gun, the american turned the tables and forced him to eat the remainder of the crow.
一八一二至一八一四年英美战争，双方一度休战，其间一名美国人打猎，无意中越过英军防线，射下一只乌鸦。一个未有携带武器的英国军官走到他面前，称赞他枪法了得，说想看看他的枪，但一拿到枪，就用来指那猎人，强迫他咬一口乌鸦吃，然后才把枪还给他。那猎人马上以其人之道还治其人之身，要那军官把余下的乌鸦吃掉。

【解说】一八一二年，英国正和拿破仑的法国作战，因战时航运等问题和美国冲突。英文成语toeatcrow据说就是出自上述故事，指「被迫认错」或「被迫做可羞的事」，
例如 ： you have made a fool of yourself, so you must eat crow （你做了事，就应认错）。turn the tables 也 是 成 语 ， 指 扭 转 形 势 ， 其 后 常 用 on 或 upon 带 出 反 居 劣 势的 一 方 ， 例 如 ： at first badly beaten, the boxer managed to turn the tables on his opponent （ 那 拳 师 最 初 惨 败 ， 但 终 能 反 败 为 胜 ） 。