Idiom Stories: 一箭双雕 (Yíjiànshuāngdiāo) To Shoot Two Hawks with One Arrow

Nánbĕicháo shí, bĕizhōu yŏu ge jiào Zhăngsūn Shèng de wŭguān,
南北朝时，北周有个叫长孙晟的武官，

shànyú shèjiàn, zhìmóu guò rén,
善于射箭，智谋过人，

yīncĭ bèi cháotíng pàiqiăn hùsòng gōngzhŭ dào xībĕi tūjuézú qù chénghūn.
因此被朝廷派遣护送公主到西北突厥族去成婚。

Tūjuézú guówáng hĕn qìzhòng tā,  bă tā liú xià lái,  suí zìjĭ yìqĭ qù dăliè,
突厥族国王很器重他，把他留下来，随自己一起去打猎，

guówáng kànjiàn yŏu liăng zhī dàdiāo zài kōngzhōng zhēngduó yí kuài ròu,
国王看见有两只大雕在空中争夺一块肉，

biàn qĭng tā jiāng diāo shèluò, Zhăngsūn Shèng lākāi gōng, yí jiàn shè qù,
便请他将雕射落，长孙晟拉开弓， 一箭射去，

jìng tóngshí jiāng liăng zhī dàdiāo shè le xià lái.
竟同时将两只大雕射了下来。

English Translation

During the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zhang Sun Sheng, a wise sharp-shooting military attache from the Northern State, was sent on a mission: to escort the princess to the Turkic Clan’s territory in the northwest to be married.

The King of the Turkics appreciated Zhang Sun Sheng’s shooting ability and kept him to go hunting with him. While on the hunt, they saw two big eagles in the sky fighting over a piece of meat, so the king asked him to shoot the eagles.

Unexpectedly, he shot both eagles at the same time. So now people usually use the idiom to describe a situation where one action can accomplish two goals.

Example

Zhècì yīngyŭ jìngsài, jì tígāo le wŏ de yīngyŭ huìhuà shuĭpíng,yòu jiéshí le，jĭ wèi wàiguó péngyou, zhēn kĕwèi yíjiànshuāngdiāo.
这次英语竞赛，  既提高了我的英语会话水平， 又结识了几位外国朋友，真可谓一箭双雕。

This English contest not only improves my spoken English ability, but also helps me meet some foreign friends. It’s just like killing two birds with one stone.