Zài 《 Shījīng · Bīnfēng · Chīxiāo 》 lǐ, yì zhī mǔniǎo qiú chīxiāo búyào huǐdiào tā de cháo.
In 'The Owl' of the Book of Songs, a mother bird begs the owl not to destroy her nest.
Tips
usage
In speech an owl is 猫头鹰; 鸱鸮 is the old literary name. Owls were birds of ill omen, so the word also stood for wicked people.
history
The poem gave Chinese several words: 未雨绸缪 'to bind the windows before the rain', i.e. to prepare in advance, 拮据, first 'toiling hands' and now 'hard up', and 风雨飘摇 'tossed by wind and rain'.
