Beat the Grass and Startle the Snake打草惊蛇

Micky

“打草惊蛇”出自《七修类稿·辩证六·谚语始》：“南唐王鲁为当涂令，日营资产，部人诉主簿贪污，鲁曰：‘汝虽打草，吾已惊蛇。’”

In the Southern Tang， therewas a magistrate in Dangtu namedWang Lu. He was very 1）greedyand took many 2）bribes. One of hissecretaries was equally corrupt.

One day， a man went to themagistrate to 3）lodge a complaint against the secretary. Thesecretary’s crimes were almost thesame as the crimes the magistratehimself committed. Wang Lu wasso frightened that he forgot hisproper role in handling the case.Instead of issuing a judgment， he couldn’t help writing these words concerning the complaint， “By beating the grass， you have startled me who am like a snake under the grass！”

1） greedy adj. 贪婪的

2） bribe n. 贿赂

3） lodge v. 正式提出

Fill in the blanks：

Both Wang Lu and his secretary were__________and corrupt.

南唐時期，有一个名叫王鲁的人在当涂做县官。这个人非常贪财，收受了很多贿赂。他手下有一个主簿，也同样贪赃。

一天，有人到王鲁这儿控告他的主簿。 这个主簿的罪行跟王鲁的所作所为几乎完全相同。王鲁吓得都不知道如何来处理这件案子。他没有作出判决，而是不由自主地在诉状上写道：“汝虽打草，吾已蛇惊。”

Know More

The original meaning of the idiom “beat the grass and startle the snake” isthat punishment for someone can serve as a warning to others. But people nowuse the idiom to indicate that premature actions put the enemy on guard.

成语“打草惊蛇”，原指惩罚了别人，也警戒了自己；后比喻做事不周密，致使对方有了警觉和防范。

参考答案：greedy