In ancient times there were no donkeys in Guizhou province.

Somebody brought a donkey from somewhere and tied it to a tree at the foot of a mountain.

过去贵州(黔)这个地方没有驴。

有个多事的人用船运来了一头驴，运来后却没有什么用处，就把驴放到山脚下。

A tiger saw the donkey, and thought that it must be a fearsome(可怕的) monster.

It hide behind a tree and spied on the donkey.

一只老虎看见了驴，以为这个躯体高大的家伙一定很神奇，就躲在树林里偷偷观察着，后来又悄悄走出来，小心翼翼地接近驴，不知道驴子的底细。

When the donkey brayed(叫) , the tiger was frightened, thinking that the donkey was about to devour(吞食，毁灭) it.

After a while, seeing that the donkey had not moved, the tiger approached it and teased it.

The donkey became angry, and kicked the tiger.

有一天，驴叫了一声，大虎大吃一惊，远远躲开，以为驴要咬自己了，非常恐惧。

然而，老虎反复观察以后，觉得驴并没有什么特殊本领，而且越来越熟悉驴的叫声了。

老虎开始走到驴的前后，转来转去，还不敢上去攻击驴。

以后，老虎慢慢逼近驴，越来越放肆，或者碰它一下，或者靠它一下，不断冒犯它。

驴非常恼怒，就用蹄子去踢老虎。

The tiger thought to itself: "Its then all it is capable of?

" It then jumped on the donkey and ate it.

老虎心里盘算着：你的本事也不过如此罢了!

”非常高兴。

于是老虎腾空扑去，大吼一声，咬断了驴的喉管，啃完了驴的肉，才离去了。

This idiom is used to mean that one has exhauseted one's skills.

唉!

那驴的躯体高大，好像有德行;声音洪亮，好像有本事。

假如不显出那有限的本事，老虎虽然凶猛，也会存有疑虑畏惧的心理，终究不敢攻击它。

现在落得如此下场，不是很可悲吗?

【中国成语故事中英对照 黔驴技穷查看网站：[db:时间]】