In the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Ping of Chu was misled by slanderers(诽谤者) , and had Wu Zixu's father executed.

Wu Zixu fled to the State of Wu.

More than then years later, Wu Zixu took his revenge by helping.

Wu conquer Chu.

Yet he suffered agonies of remorse(懊悔，同情) , because his countrymen called him a traitor.

He protested, "I'm just like a traveller.

It's already late, but I still have a long way to go.

I simply dont know what to do.

"This idiom comes from the above story.

It means being in a very difficult situation at the end of one's tether(范围，栓绳) .

战国时，楚平王的太子建有两个老师，一个是伍奢，一个是费无忌。

费无忌得到楚平王的宠爱，可是他又怕太子登位后会对他不利，于是他便诬告太子。

没想到平王竟然相信，还把太子调到边关去。

但是费无忌还是不放心，担心太子找机会报复，因此他又将伍奢囚禁，并且派人杀害太子。

心狠的费无忌还不愿罢休，他想到伍奢有两个儿子，于是他又派人杀害了伍奢和他的大儿子，只有伍奢的小儿子伍员逃走了。

平王听信费无忌的谎言，认为伍员是叛徒，因此下令追捕伍员。

伍员为了逃命，一夜之间头发胡子全白了。

后来他逃到了吴国，帮助吴王，建议派兵攻打楚，经过五次战争，终于打到楚国都城，这时平王已死，伍员为了报杀父兄之仇，便挖出平王的尸体，亲自鞭尸。

伍员的老朋友知道之后便责备他。

伤心的伍员对他说：我像一个走路的人，此时天色已晚，但是路却很远，所以会做些违背常理的事。

”【中国成语故事中英对照 日暮途穷查看网站：[db:时间]】