殃及池鱼 innocent fish affected
Explanation
比喻无缘无故地遭受祸害。
A metaphor for innocent harm.
Origin Story
春秋时期，宋国都城发生了一场大火。火势凶猛，眼看就要蔓延到整个城池。为了阻止大火蔓延，城内百姓纷纷跑到护城河边取水灭火。他们日夜奋战，终于将大火扑灭。然而，护城河的水几乎被抽干了，河里的鱼儿因为缺水而大量死亡。这场大火虽然扑灭了，但护城河里的鱼却无辜地遭受了灭顶之灾。这就是“殃及池鱼”的由来。这个故事告诉我们，有时一些灾难的发生，会波及到与灾难本身没有直接关系的人或事，他们会无辜地遭受损失或伤害。
During the Spring and Autumn period, a great fire broke out in the capital of the state of Song. The fire was fierce and threatened to spread to the entire city. To prevent the fire from spreading, the citizens of the city ran to the moat to fetch water and put out the fire. They fought day and night and finally extinguished the fire. However, the water in the moat was almost completely pumped out, and the fish in the moat died en masse from lack of water. Although the fire was extinguished, the fish in the moat suffered an innocent fate. Thus arose the idiom "殃及池鱼". This story teaches us that sometimes the occurrence of some disasters can affect people or things that are not directly related to the disaster itself, and that they may innocently suffer losses or harm.
Usage
用作谓语、宾语、定语；指无端受害。
Used as predicate, object and attributive; refers to innocent suffering.
Examples
-
商场竞争激烈，稍有不慎就会殃及池鱼。
shangchang jingzheng jilie, shao you bushen jiu hui yangji chiyu
The market competition is fierce, a little carelessness will lead to innocent people being affected.
-
这场战争殃及池鱼，许多无辜百姓遭殃。
zhezhang zhanzheng yangji chiyu, xudu wugu baixing zao yang
This war affected many innocent people.