expression, noun
someone doomed to their fate; fish on the chopping board (lit.)
Idiomatic expression describing a person who has no control over their situation and is resigned to whatever happens, like a carp on a cutting board awaiting the knife.
彼はまな板の上の鯉のように、ただ結果を待つしかなかった。
Like a fish on the chopping board, he could only wait for the outcome.
試験の前は、まな板の上の鯉の気分だ。
Before the exam, I feel like a carp on the cutting board.
Literally 'a carp on the cutting board'. The image of a fish awaiting preparation has long been used in Japanese to symbolize a person who has no choice but to accept their fate.