一鸣惊人
                                                                         
     战国时代，齐威王即位后做了三年国君，只顾享乐，不理政事。有个善于说笑话的人叫淳于髡，一天对齐威王说：“城里有一只大鸟，三年不飞也不叫，你知道这是什么道理？”齐威王说：“这鸟不飞则罢，一飞就冲天；不鸣则罢，一鸣就惊人。”在淳于髡的激发下，齐威王开始治理国家，取得很大成绩，齐国的声威一直保持了几十年。
　   “一鸣惊人”用来表示平时默默无闻，一旦行动起来，却做出惊人的成绩。 

                        Amazing the World with a Single Feat
　　
In the Warring States Period, Duke Wei of Qi neglected state affairs, for the first three years of his reign, giving himself over to dissipation. One of his ministers, Chun Yukun who had a good sense of humour, said to him: 'There is a big bird which has neither taken wing nor sung for three years.' The duke answered, 'Once that bird starts to fly and sing, it will astonish the world.' The duke thereupon devoted himself to his duties and built his state up into a powerful one.

This idiom is used to indicate that a person may rise from obscurity and achieve greatness.