someone doomed to their fate; fish on the chopping board
Idiomatic expression describing a person who is helpless and at the mercy of others, like a fish on a cutting board. Rare and literary; the more common equivalent is まな板の鯉.
See also: まな板の鯉
He was already like a fish on the chopping board, with no choice but to accept his fate.
The common modern equivalent with the same meaning; 俎上の鯉 is a rare, classical variant.
Standard kanji form for this idiomatic expression.
Variant using the classical possessive particle 之; less common in modern writing.
From the image of a carp on a cutting board, helpless and awaiting its fate. The expression uses the classical kanji 俎 (cutting board) and is a rare variant of the more common まな板の鯉.