A poor beast will bite

A poor beast will bite

The Chinese idiom, Pinyin is sh ò uqi ó ngz é Ni è, which means that when animals are in a desperate situation, they will fight back. It also means that when people are in a difficult situation, they will fight back. From Han Shi waizhuan.

The origin of Idioms

"Han Shi waizhuan" Volume 2: "animals are poor, they bite; birds are poor, they peck; people are poor, they cheat. Since ancient times and today, the poor can not be dangerous, there is no such thing

Analysis of Idioms

When animals are in distress, they will bite

Idiom usage

Used as an object or attribute; used in writing. Example: when animals are poor, they will bite. Therefore, the traitor Miao advocated to drive away the Hakka people and return to their hometown, while the villagers fought to kill the common people. Wei Yuan's Sheng Wu Ji (Volume 7)