第284期：poke the bear

今天我们来学一个跟熊有关的词，都很有趣，很形象，也很容易记住: Poke the bear.

Poke the bear, 通常用作否定形式：Don’t poke the bear. 意思是“别没事儿找事儿”，No zuo no die; don’t ask for trouble; Don’t look for trouble.

英语释义：To poke the bear is to do something that might provoke someone into becoming angry or causing problems. 也有人把这个俗语直译为“戳熊”的，佛老觉得如果非要直译的话，不如译为“惹熊”更好。

Poke的意思是“戳”，想象一个场景：一头熊正在睡觉，你从它身边走过，本来没事。你偏要捡一根树枝去戳它。它醒来会怎样？（此处略去283字）

Bears are lovely creatures that often hibernate and are, for the most part, non-violent. However, when poked, bears can become quite angry. As such, it’s always best not to poke the bear.

来看Urban Dictionary上的一个例句：

Employee 1: “Should I ask the boss for a day off?” 员工1：我应该找老板请一天假吗？
Employee 2: “He just found out his wife left him, so don’t poke the bear.” 员工2： 他老婆刚离开他，还是别去惹熊了。

怎么样，是不是很形象？

Graham Allison教授的新书”Destined for war”中有这样一段对中苏1969年边界珍宝岛战争的描述，用了poke the bear，很棒。大家来欣赏一下。

Still, facing an angry Soviet Union, Mao adopted an unexpected strategy: he poked the bear.

China’s military planned an attack that would “strive for suddenness of action” and teach Moscow a “bitter lesson.” On March 2, 1969, the PLA ambushed Soviet border troops on Zhenbao island in the Ussuri River, followed shortly by a second attack, killing ninety-one Soviets at the cost of thirty Chinese.

佛老觉得上面这段对M的描写用了he poked the bear不仅成语用的恰当，而且用bear来指代苏俄，一语双关，词趣盎然。绝妙的一句话。