一年被蛇咬十年怕井绳

bitten by a snake in one year, fears the well rope for ten years (idiom); once bitten twice shy

one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

surname Nian

year / CL:個|个[ge4]

grain / harvest (old) / variant of 年[nian2]

quilt / by / (indicates passive-voice clauses) / (literary) to cover / to meet with / (coll.) (since c. 2009) used before a verb that does not accurately represent what actually happened, to describe with black humor how sb or sth was dealt with by the authorities (as in 被自殺|被自杀[bei4 zi4 sha1])

variant of 蛇[she2]

snake / serpent / CL:條|条[tiao2]

to bite / to nip

variant of 咬[yao3]

ten / 10

surname Pa

to be afraid / to fear / to dread / to be unable to endure / perhaps

a well / CL:口[kou3] / neat / orderly

rope / CL:根[gen1]