Chinese idiom: dǎ cǎo jīng shé

Stir the grass and startle the snake

Long long ago, a county magistrate named Wang Lu worked in present Anhui Province , east China . Wang Lu was very greedy and took many bribes. One of his secretaries was equally corrupt, and often schemed for Wang Lu's deeds.

One day a man went to the magistrate to lodge a complaint against the secretary. The secretary's crimes were almost the same as the crimes the magistrate himself committed. Wang Lu was so frightened that he forgot his proper role in handling the case. Instead of issuing a judgment, he couldn't help writing these words concerning the complaint: "By stirring the grass, you have startled me who am like a snake under the grass!"

The above story provided the idiom "Stir the grass and startle the snake". The original meaning is that punishment for someone can serve as a warning to others. But people now use the idiom to indicate that premature actions which put the enemy on guard.

打草惊蛇 (dǎ cǎo jīng shé)

从前,有个叫王鲁的人在中国东部的安徽作县令.王鲁非常贪财,接受了很多贿赂.他手下有一位掌管文书事务的官员,也同样贪赃,经常为王鲁的行为出谋划策.

一天,有人到王鲁这儿控告这位官员.这位官员的罪行跟王鲁的所作所为几乎完全相同.王鲁听了吓得都不知道如何来处理这件案子.他没有作出判决,而是不由自主的在状子上写道："你虽然打的是草,但我这就像伏在草下面的蛇,也受到惊吓了！"

"打草惊蛇" 这个成语就是由上面这个故事产生的.原先的意思是指对某人的惩罚成了对其他人的警告,但现在人们用它来比喻不成熟的行为会使敌人产生戒备.