During the Warring States Period (zhàn guó 战国), Juang-tz's family was very
poor. When they had nothing left to eat, Juang-tz went to borrow some money from
a local official. However, the official told Juang-tz that he would not be able
to lend him any money until after he had collected the rent.

Juang-tz was very angry, and he said to the official, "Yesterday I saw a
crucian carp in a ditch that had dried up.He looked as if he was about to die,
and asked me to quickly fetch a bucket of water to save his life. I told him
that I was on my way south, where there is a lot of water, and that I would
certainly bring some back for him. But the carp grew very angry and said,

"By the time you've gotten back with that water, I won't be here anymore!
You'll have to go look for me at a dried fish store!"

This idiom is used to mean that a promise of help later is of no use in an
immediate crisis.

战国时代，庄子家里很穷，简直就没饭吃了，他就到蓝河侯家里去借钱。庄子到了蓝河侯，表示要向他借钱，没想到篮河侯说：“你要借钱没问题，不过要等我收到租金以后。”

庄子很气忿，就对蓝河侯说：“昨天我在路旁的干水沟里看见一条鲫鱼，他说是从东海来的，今天不幸掉在干水沟里，眼看就要干死了，快点儿给扦一桶水救救
他。”我点头说：“好，我正要到南方去，那里到处都有水，我一定把西江的水放出来救你。”不料鲫鱼很气忿地说：“等到你把西江的水放出来，那时候我早已不
在这儿了，你只能到咸鱼滩儿上找我了。”

枯鱼之肆 【翻译】The desperate struggle of fish.