【成語來源】?

The?affair?of the east window is?exposed./The cat is out of the bag.
東窗事發(fā)

During the final years of the Song dynasty (sòng cháo 宋朝), China was invaded by Jin (jīn金) people from the north.?
宋朝末年，北方的金人來侵犯。

General Yue Fei led the army in resistance, and defeated the enemy.
將軍岳飛率領(lǐng)軍隊(duì)勇敢抵抗，終于把敵人打敗。

Just as he was about to take advantage of his victory and attack the Jin army, he received word that the emperor had ordered him to return.
正想乘勝追擊敵人的時(shí)候，忽然皇帝下了十二道金牌，命令岳飛和軍隊(duì)立刻回去。

As it turned out, this was actually a plot of Chin Hui, a Sung dynasty official who was conspiring with the enemy.In order to frame Yue Fei, Chin Hui had tricked him into returning early.
原來這是私通敵人的太師秦檜的詭計(jì)，假冒皇帝的意思來陷害岳飛。

Chin Hui had thought this plot up together with his wife, under the east window of their house.
秦檜的這些詭計(jì)，都是他和妻子王氏在家里的東窗下秘密商量出來的。

Sometime later, Chin Hui and his son Chin Shi died, one right after the other. Chin Hui's wife hired someone who could communicate with ghosts and spirits to come and find out how her husband and son were doing after death.
后來秦檜和他的兒子秦僖相繼死亡，王氏請(qǐng)了幾個(gè)研究神鬼靈魂的人來，想知道他們父子死后的情形。

After he had finished, the man said to her, "I first went to see your son, who told me that your husband was in the city of Feng-du. So I went there and found him doing hard labor, wearing iron cangue. He asked me to tell you that the thing which you two discussed under the east window has already been exposed."
來的人在做法以后告訴王氏說：“我先見到了公子秦僖，他告 訴我秦太師在酆都城，我到了酆都城，看見太師正戴著鐵枷做苦工呢。他讓我轉(zhuǎn)告你，你們?cè)跂|窗下商量的那件事已經(jīng)被揭發(fā)了?！?/div>

Now, when a wrong-doing is brought to light, it may be said that "the affair of the east window has been exposed."
現(xiàn)在當(dāng)一件丑事被曝光之后，就可以說是：“東窗事發(fā)”了。

【中外差異】

A secret is like a cat that has been kept in a bag. Once you let the cat out of the bag, it goes wherever it wants.
英語中的與“東窗事發(fā)”意義相近的是“the cat is out of the bag”,就是“貓從袋子里走出來了”，可以把貓想象成“秘密”，把不為人知的秘密藏在袋子里，貓一旦從袋子中走出，秘密也就隨之公開了，也就是“東窗事發(fā)”。

【成語活用】

I've been keeping that thing a family secret.But now the cat is out of the bag because of you!
我一直把那件事當(dāng)做家族的秘密，但如今卻因?yàn)槟愣鴸|窗事發(fā)！