中国人都知道“指鹿为马”这个成语和典故，出自《史记》（秦始皇本纪）：

   赵高欲为乱，恐群臣不听，乃先设验，持鹿献于二世，曰：“马也。” 二世笑曰：“丞相误邪？谓鹿为马。”问左右，左右或默，或言马以阿顺赵高。或言鹿，高因阴中诸言鹿者以法。

这段文言文容易理解，应该不必译为白话文了，但怎么翻译成英文，或者怎么跟歪果仁几句话就讲清楚这个典故，看似容易，其实有难度。

下面是一个通用英语版本，仅供参考。

“指鹿为马” is a Chinese idiom that literally means “pointing at a deer and calling it a horse.”

It comes from a story in the Qin Dynasty. A powerful official named Zhao Gao brought a deer to court and insisted it was a horse. Those who agreed with the obvious lie were spared; those who told the truth were eliminated.

Today, it means deliberately twisting the truth or gaslighting people — calling something what it clearly isn’t, usually for power or control.

In English, it’s like “calling black white.”

这段英文中gaslight一词用得特别好，但我认为把指鹿为马对应英文calling black white有点过度简单化，有点可惜了这么著名的典故。

我有个更好的对应方法，简洁度和准确度超过所有翻译版本，英美人基本秒懂。

“It’s like 1984’s ‘2 + 2 = 5.’ A powerful man points at a deer and says ‘This is a horse.’ Anyone who disagrees gets eliminated. Same idea: forcing people to accept obvious lies.”

如果你还没读过George Orwell的1984， 不知道书中2+2=5这个故事，here it is:

In George Orwell’s 1984, the totalitarian Party tortures Winston Smith and demands he accept that 2 + 2 = 5. Through pain and brainwashing, he finally breaks and genuinely believes the lie. It symbolizes the regime’s ultimate goal: total control over truth and reality itself.

英美人很多人上学时都读过或学过这本小说，也都知道这个桥段，2+2=5就跟我们的指鹿为马一样尽人皆知，并且完美对应。

Both capture the exact same concept: forcing people to accept an obvious lie as truth, under threat of punishment, to demonstrate and consolidate power.