At Whose Hand Will The Dear Die

During the Eastern Chin dynasty, there lived a merchant named Shr Le. When the area in which he lived was struck by natural disaster, Shr Le was forced out of business. Unable to find work, he had nothing to eat, and when he was so hungry that he could stand it no longer, he sold himself as a slave to a wealthy family.

Shr Le's master, seeing that his appearance was not like that of an ordinary man, soon let him go free. Shr Le then went and offered his services to another man, named Liou Yuan, who established the kingdom of Han. Several years later, Shr Le betrayed the kingdom of Han, and himself became the emperor of the most powerful kingdom of his time. Shr Le was extremely proud of himself, and once boasted in front of many people, "If I had been born at the same time as the emperor of Han, I most certainly would've had it out with him to see who was the real man. And we all know who would've wound up on throne!"

Today, when two parties are competing and it is still unclear who will win, one of the two competing parties may use the idiom "At Whose Hand Will The Deer Die" to express confidence in his own ability.

鹿死誰手

東晉的時候！有個商人名叫石勒。他住的地方，因為天災，很多人都沒飯吃，也不能做生意。他到處找不到工作，整天沒吃飯，餓得實在受不了，就把自己賣給有錢人家當奴隸。

石勒的主人看他儀表很不平凡，過了一段日子，就還給他自由。他後來就投效到另外一個酋長劉淵的部下。劉淵建立了漢國。多年以後，石勒背叛了漢國，自己做了皇帝，他建立的國家是當時十六國中國勢最強的。石勒非常得意。有一次在很多人的面前誇口說：「假如我和漢國的皇帝出生在同一時代，我一定要和他在中原比一比高下，成功奪得王位的還不知道是誰呢‧