📖 Meaning
A metaphor for receiving meager assistance that resolves an immediate, pressing crisis. It describes how even a small amount of timely help can save someone from desperate circumstances, just as a little water revives a stranded fish.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Daoist classic Zhuangzi (《庄子·外物》), the chapter 'External Things.' The philosopher Zhuang Zhou recounts encountering a fish stranded in a dry cart rut. The fish, calling itself a minister of the Eastern Sea, pleads for just a small measure of water to save its life. The story illustrates how modest, timely aid can rescue someone from dire straits. The same passage also gave rise to the related idiom 涸辙之鲋.
💡 Example Usage
如今他身陷困境，急需斗水活鳞般的帮助。
Now trapped in dire straits, he urgently needs even a small measure of timely help to survive.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 斗水活鳞
- Pinyin: dòu shuǐ huó lín
- Literal Translation: peck, water, revive, scales (fish)
- Category: Recovery
- Characters: 4