Chinese practice
手足無措
be at a loss as to what to do
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片：維基共享資源
(shou3 zu2 wu2 cuo4)
利用訓練過的獵犬、徒步或騎馬的非武裝隨從來獵狐，起源於十六世紀的英格蘭。這種做法逐漸產生其特有的文化及術語。要捕捉的狐狸被稱作「quarry」（獵物）；若獵物躲在洞裡，就說牠是「gone to ground」（逃入地穴）；任何掩蓋獵物經過的氣味──或稱「line」（線索）──例如糞肥、肥料、農場動物或車輛排氣，被稱為「foil」（阻擾）；如果獵犬追丟了氣味，獵犬就是「at fault」（有過錯）或「at a loss」（不知所措）。
這些用語有許多已被廣泛使用：「go to ground」現也意指避開眾人耳目，尤其是政府機關或新聞媒體想找到你時；「be at a loss」（不知所措）意指你不知該怎麼做，以及面對問題時不知該如何因應。若你對某情況感到震驚，無法用言語表達感受，便可說你是「at a loss for words」（為之語塞、茫然說不出話來）。
在《論語》的〈子路〉篇中，孔子的學生子路問孔子他的治國之道為何，孔子回答說，首先最重要的是「必也正名乎」也就是說，一切都應該根據其實際性質來命名。子路質疑，為何要把「正名」這無關緊要的事擺在第一位？孔子回答說：「名不正，則言不順；言不順，則事不成；事不成，則禮樂不興；禮樂不興，則刑罰不中；刑罰不中，則民無所措手足」（名份不正當，就無法說得順理、事情就會處理不好、禮樂教化就不會興盛、法律刑罰就不會用得恰當。這樣一來，人民就會手足無措，不知該如何是好）。「民無所措手足」後來便衍生出成語「手足無措」，意思是「不知該怎麼辦才好」。
上週的「活用成語」提到了三國時期吳國霸主孫權，本週單元他再度出馬。《三國演義》成書於明初，第六十七回描述孫權陷入了困境：「孫權縱馬上橋，橋南已折丈餘，並無一片板。孫權驚得手足無措」（孫權騎馬到橋上，看到橋的南側已斷了一丈多，其間連一塊板都沒有，孫權驚訝地不知該如何是好）。
曹雪芹的《紅樓夢》成書於清代中期，第八十三回寫道：「只聽薛姨媽忽然叫道：『左脅疼痛的很！』說著，便向炕上躺下。嚇得寶釵、香菱二人手足無措。」
(台北時報林俐凱譯)
這次輪到小明上台演講，內向的他緊張得手足無措。
(It was shy little Hsiao-ming’s turn to get up on the stage and give a speech, and he was so nervous he was at a complete loss as to what to do.)
政策如果朝令夕改，會讓人民手足無措。
(If the government keeps changing its policies the public will be left at a complete loss.)
英文練習
to be at a loss
Fox hunting with trained hounds and unarmed followers on foot or horseback originated in England in the sixteenth century. The practice accrued a culture of its own, together with its own very particular set of terminology. The fox being chased is known as the quarry. If the quarry hides in a hole it is said to have gone to ground. Any scent that masks the path taken — or line — of the quarry, such as manure, fertilizer, farm animals or vehicle fumes, is known as a foil. If the hounds lose the scent they are said to be at fault or at a loss.
Many of these words have entered the wider language: to “go to ground” now also means to hide oneself from public view, especially when the authorities or the news media are trying to find you; to “be at a loss” means you have no idea how to proceed, and are bewildered about what to do next when faced with a problem. If you are so startled by a given situation that you cannot put into words how you feel about it, you can say you are “at a loss for words.”
In the zi lu chapter of the lun yu (the Confucian Analects), Confucius is asked how he would go about administering the government, and he replies that first and foremost “the names should be rectified”: that is, everything should be named according to its actual nature. When challenged for placing a priority on such an apparently inconsequential preoccupation, Confucius answers: 名不正，則言不順；言不順，則事不成；事不成，則禮樂不興；禮樂不興，則刑罰不中；刑罰不中，則民無所措手足 (if things are not named according to their nature, language becomes ineffectual, which means that affairs cannot be handled properly, the rites and music will not be carried out, and rewards and punishments will not be properly given out. If this is the situation, people will not know what to do or how to behave). From the phrase 則民無所措手足 we get the idiom 手足無措, meaning “to be at a loss as to what to do.”
In last week’s Using Idioms we mentioned a warlord of the state of Wu, Sun Quan, and he features here again. Chapter 67 of the Early Ming Dynasty book sanguo yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) finds him in trouble: it says 孫權縱馬上橋，橋南已折丈餘，並無一片板。孫權驚得手足無措 (Sun Quan rode his horse onto the bridge, but part of the south side of the bridge had been removed, with a gap several meters across. Sun was at a loss as to what to do).
In Chapter 83 of the mid-Qing Dynasty novel hong lou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber) by Cao Xueqin is the line 只聽薛姨媽忽然叫道：『左脅疼痛的很！』說著，便向炕上躺下。嚇得寶釵、香菱二人手足無措 (Hearing Aunt Xue screaming out, “My left side, how it hurts” and then lying down on the heated bed, [her daughter] Baochai and Xiangling were at a loss as to what to do.”
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
Sometimes I think you would really be at a loss without your phone.
(有時候我想，如果你沒帶手機，你真的會手足無措。)
My colleague was blasting out music on his headphones. It turns out he was also wearing earplugs. I was at a loss for words.
(我同事用耳機聽音樂，音量開得震天價響。後來發現他原來同時還帶著耳塞，我真是無言了。)
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