Bow Reflection Mistaken for a Snake in the Cup
有人饮酒，见杯中似有蛇，吓得生病。后来才知是墙上弓影映入酒中。形容疑神疑鬼、自我惊吓。心理上，恐惧常被错误解释放大。
A guest sees what looks like a snake in his wine and falls ill from fear. Later he learns it was a bow’s reflection on the wall. The idiom names panic born of misreading shadows.
先查证再恐慌；许多「蛇」只是影子。
Verify before panic; many “snakes” are only reflections.
After the moral, ask one question: if a similar choice showed up today, where does the story snag? Name that tension first—then take your own step. You need not copy the ancients, only borrow their clarity.