In ancient times there was a county magistrate who took bribes and practised graft. One day, somebody sent him a petition accusing his secretary of practising graft and taking bribes. The magistrate trembles when he read the petition. He wrote on it:"You have beaten the grass and frightened a snake."
This idiom refers to alerting the target of one's scheme by being incautious.
唐朝的時候,有一個名叫王魯?shù)娜耍谘瞄T做官的時候,常常接受賄賂、不遵守法規(guī)。有一天,有人遞了一張狀紙到衙門,控告王魯?shù)牟肯逻`法、接受賄賂。王魯一看,狀紙上所寫的各種罪狀,和他自己平日的違法行為一模一樣。王魯一邊看著狀紙,一邊發(fā)著抖:“這…這不是在說我嗎?”王魯愈看愈害怕,都忘狀紙要怎么批,居然在狀紙上寫下了八個大字:“汝雖打草,吾已蛇驚。”意思就是說你這樣做,目的是為了打地上的草,但我就像是躲在草里面的蛇一樣,可是被大大的嚇了一跳了!
后來,大家就根據(jù)王魯所寫的八個字“汝雖打草,吾已蛇驚”,引伸為“打草驚蛇”這句成語。