望梅止渴

Among the outstanding figures of Chinese history, famous either for their intelligence or treachery（背叛，变节）, Cao Cao is one of the foremost.

 

One hot day, he marched out his troops under a burning sun in a mountainous area. Bewilderingly（令人困惑地） he lost the way. The journey was long and the sun was scorching¹. After their fruitless and tiresome² march, all voiced their great dissatisfaction with the leadership of Cao Cao. They bitterly complained of their great thirst. The antagonism³（对抗） of the soldiers was growing fast and they were on the verge⁴ of staging a mutiny（兵变）. The subordinate officers were helpless to cope with the situation.

 

Cao Cao, however, in the nick of time cleverly and treacherously⁵ gave orders to his troops to march to the nearby plum trees for a rest and announced that soldiers would be allowed to eat the juicy sour（酸的） fruit as much as they desired.

 

At the thought of the sour fruit the soldiers' complaint of great thirst as well as the antagonistic⁶ feeling were quickly forgotten.

 

Based on the story the later generation formed the proverb "to quench⁷ one's thirst by looking up at plums", to illustrate⁸ a case where one takes comfort in believing that they have already attained⁹ that which was expected or desired.

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