一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井繩

一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳
yīzhāobèishéyǎo,shíniánpàjǐngshéng
  1. lit. once bitten by a snake, one is scared all one's life at the mere sight of a rope (saying)
  2. fig. once bitten, twice shy

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 一朝 yīzhāo
  1. (literary) one day; unexpected occasion in the future
  2. one day; unexpected occasion in the future
2 被 bèi
  1. quilt
  2. to cover (with)
  3. (literary) to suffer (a misfortune)
  4. used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb)
  5. (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅遊 bèilu:yóu to "go on a trip")
=3 蛇 shé variant of 蛇 shé
=3 蛇 shé
  1. snake
  2. serpent

classifier: 條
=4 咬 yǎo
  1. to bite
  2. to nip
=4 咬 yǎo variant of 咬 yǎo
5 十年 shínián ten years; decade
6 怕 pà
  1. to be afraid
  2. to fear
  3. to dread
  4. to be unable to endure
  5. perhaps
7 井繩 jǐngshéng rope for drawing water from a well