以逸待劳

Await the Exhausted Enemy at Your Ease

原文 Content

困敌之势，不以战；损刚益柔。

英文注释：It is an advantage to choose the time and place for battle. In this way you know when and where the battle will take place, while your enemy does not. Encourage your enemy to expend his energy in futile quests while you conserve your strength. When he is exhausted and confused, you attack with energy and purpose.

探源 Origin

英文：This phrase is derived from The Art of War authored by Sun Tzu, "to be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it, to wait at ease while the enemy is exhausted, to be well-fed while the enemy is famished---this is the art of husbanding one's strength." In 684 BC, the Qi army attacked the state of Lu. Lu Zhuang Gong then decided to embark on an expedition with his warriors. Cao Gui, a warrior went with him. The Qi-Lu parties set the battlefield in Chang Shao. Qi took the lead to beat drum. Soldiers rushed over like a flood. But Cao Gui persuaded Lu Zhuang Gong just to keep up with a good defense. Qi began to launch the second round of attacks. They beat the drums again. But Lu stayed on the defensive and didn't attempt to strike. Because of this, Qi thought Lu was timid and then relaxed. When Lu heard Qi beating the drums for the third time, Cao Gui commanded their troops to attack. The Qi army was exhausted after two attacks. Meanwhile, the Lu soldiers had been in resting for a long time and were finally ready to attack. As a result, the Lu soldiers beat the Qi army and won the battle.

中文：这一词来自《孙子兵法》中“以近待远，以佚待劳，以饱待饥，此治力者也。”(“佚”通“逸”）公元前684年，齐国派兵攻打鲁国。鲁庄公亲征上阵，与武士曹刿一起率兵出征。齐鲁双方把战场设在了长勺。齐国率先擂起了冲天的战鼓，士兵像洪水般冲过来。但曹刿说服鲁庄公只需严守防线。齐国开始发动第二轮进攻，他们重新擂起战鼓。可鲁国仍然纹丝不动，只防守，不采取任何进攻。于是齐国军队认为鲁国胆小不敢进攻，便懈怠下来。当听到齐国擂起第三次战鼓的时候，曹刿让鲁庄公下令开始进攻。由于齐国经过两次进攻已疲惫不堪，而鲁国士兵原地待命已久，早已蓄势待发，结果齐国士兵被英勇的鲁国士兵打得落荒而逃。（引用自《您好漫画-三十六计》）

词汇 Vocabularies

futile: 徒劳的，无益的

conserve: 保存,节省；preserve也有保存的意思，但preserve重在保护、维持“原来的状态”，而converse则重在强调“保护、使不受破坏、使不遭受损失”；如：文中的conserve one's strength（保持体力），preserve peace（维持和平）

famished: 非常饥饿的

embark: 从事，着手

expedition: 这里是“远征”的意思，此外还可以指“考察”，如：scientific expedition（科学考察）

launch: 发动，发出；此外还有推出（新产品）的意思

strike: 既可作动词，也可作名词；此处作动词，意思是“攻击，攻打”，另外还可以表示“罢工”

timid: 胆小的，胆怯的

总结 Summary

以逸待劳的“待”字并不是指消极被动的等待，而是指待机而动，以不变应万变，以静制动，积极创造战机，转劣势为优势。其精髓在于用我方的养精蓄锐去对付对方的疲于奔命，如此一来即便我方实力稍弱，也可有取胜的把握。

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（来源：沪江英语 编辑：崔旭燕）