jiàn shuāng diāo

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English Translation

lit.: one arrow, two eagles
To kill two birds with one stone

Breaking it down

  1. 一: one
  2. 箭: arrow
  3. 双: two/double
  4. 雕: eagle

Source: Google Image Search

Story in Chinese

南北朝时,北周有个叫长孙晟的武将,善于射箭,又智谋超人。 他曾被派遣护送公主到西北突厥族去成婚。 突厥族国王摄图很器重他,把他留了下来,常让他随自己一起去打猎。一次,摄图看见两只大雕在空中争夺一块肉,便交给长孙晟两支箭,请他将雕射下来。 长孙晟跨马前奔,拉开弓,只听嗖的一声,一箭竟穿过两只大雕的胸脯。 雕顿时双双落下。这个成语原指射箭技术高超。现指一举两得。

Source: http://www.hydcd.com/cy/gushi/0698yj.htm

Story in English

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a general named Chang Sunsheng from the Northern Zhou Dynasty. He was very good at archery and had super-human powers. He was sent to escort the princess to the Northwest Turk tribe to get married there.
The king of the Turk tribe, She Tu, thought very highly of the general, let him stay and often allowed him to go hunting with him.
One time, the king saw two eagles in the air who were fighting for a piece of meat, so he gave Sunsheng two arrows and asked him to shoot the eagles down. Chang Sunsheng sprinted forward, span the bow, and with only a "swish" sound, the arrow went throught he breasts of both eagles.
Both eagles fell to the ground.
This idiom originally meant excellent archery skills. Now it is used as "Killing two birds with one stone".

Translation by Celine Li

Usage

读英文文章,你就能一箭双雕,你可以提高你的英文能力和了解外国文化。