呉牛月に喘ぐ

• 呉牛喘月(ごぎゅうぜんげつ) (gogyūzengetsu)

Calque of Literary Chinese 吳牛喘月 (Wú niú chuǎnyuè). Literally "water buffalo from Wu (East China) pants at the moon", as if the moon were a hot sun.

From 《世說新語·言語》 / 《世说新语·言语》:

臣猶吳牛，見月而喘。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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臣犹吴牛，见月而喘。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Liu Yiqing (editor), A New Account of the Tales of the World, 5^th century CE

Chén yóu Wú niú, jiàn yuè ér chuǎn.

The minister is a like a water buffalo from Wu seeing the moon and breathing heavily.

Also, this idiom is believed to be taken from a lost volume of a much earlier work 《風俗通義》 / 《风俗通义》 (cited by 《太平御覽》):

吳牛望月則喘；使之苦於日，見月怖，喘矣！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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吴牛望月则喘；使之苦于日，见月怖，喘矣！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

Wú niú wàng yuè zé chuǎn; shǐ zhī kǔyú rì, jiàn yuè bù, chuǎn yǐ!

A buffalo from Wu pants at the moon. It has been worked harshly under the sun, and it becomes frightened when seeing the moon, thereby pants.

呉(ご)牛(ぎゅう)月(つき)に喘(あえ)ぐ • (gogyū tsuki ni aegu) 

1. excessive fear