The well of inspiration has dried up.Creative well has dried up.

江郎才尽

Jiang Yan lived during the Liang dynasty of the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period， in the area now known as Henan province.

南北朝时，有一位名叫江淹的人，居住在现在的河南省。

Although he came from a poor family， he as extremely hard working， and so became a high-level civil official.

江淹出身贫寒，但他十分刻苦，所以后来便当上了一位本地的高官。

Jiang Yan was very talented in the area of literature. Both his poems and his essays were outstanding， and he was known by nearly all the scholars of his time.

江淹十分有文采，在诗词歌赋都十分优秀，在当时的学者中都极富盛名。

Jiang Yan once had a dream that a man came to him and said， “My name is Guo Pu. One of my pens has been here with your for several years. Please give it back to me now.”

有一天，江淹在凉亭里睡觉，做了一个梦，梦中有一个叫郭璞的人对他说：“我有一支笔放在你那里已经很多年了，现在应该是还给我的时候了。”

In his pocket， Jiang Yan found a multi-colored pen， which he returned to Guo Po.

江淹摸了摸怀里，果然掏出一支五色笔来，于是他就把笔还给郭璞。

As Jiang Yan grew older，the poems and essays that he wrote were not as good as those he had written when he was younger.

从此以后，江淹就再也写不出如同年少时写的美妙的文章了。

Everyone said that when Jiang Yan gave away his multi-colored pen， he used up the last of his talent.

因此，人们都说江郎自从放弃了他的五色笔之后，他的才华已经用尽了。

英文中与“江郎才尽”意义相近的表达是“The well of inspiration has dried up.”这是一个很有趣的表达方式，也很形象，就是说“灵感的源泉干涸了”(“well”有“井”的意思)，也可以说“Creative well has dried up.”两个表达方式是一样的，所以当你想说自己没有才思了，有点江郎才尽的感觉的时候，就可以说“My well of inspiration has dried up.”或者“My creative well has dried up.”

我们在一起来看一些例句：

(1)What to do when your inspiration has dried up?(当你江郎才尽的时候，该怎么办呢?)

(2)We may feel that we have nothing fresh or original to contribute， as though the well of inspiration has dried up.(我们可能会觉得没有任何新鲜的创意才思，就像是江郎才尽了。)

(3)Quickly we jump to fear or worry， afraid that our creative will surely dry up.(很快的我们就会变得害怕担忧，担心自己会江郎才尽。)