shā jī jǐng hóu

【出处】《易经·师》彖卦：“刚中而应，行险而顺。以此毒^[1]天下，而民从之。”司马文森《风雨桐江》：“他们用的是杀鸡儆猴法，有意叫大哥难堪。”

【成语故事】古时候，有一个猎户在山上抓到了一只野猴，他希望这只野猴子帮他做点事，于是就把这只猴子锁在自家门口，而且用很牢固的链子锁着，他希望猴子能趁他不在家时给他看家。有一天，猎户到山上砍柴去了，回来后却发现家里的鸡丢了几只，他想到肯定是被狐狸偷去吃了。他很心痛啊，连忙跑去教训这只猴子：“你这猴子，怎么不帮我好好看家呢！ 你这天杀的！”可是这调皮的猴子却幸灾乐祸，不停地在那里又叫又跳，弄得猎户非常恼火，但又不知道该怎么办。后来，同样的事情又发生了，又有几只鸡被狐狸叼走了。这回，他把猴子狠狠打了一顿，可是仍然无济于事！ 第三次外出回来后，他发现又有几只鸡被狐狸给偷走了。他非常非常恼火，眼看自己一手养大的鸡被可恶的狐狸吃得只剩下几只了，很是心痛。猎人就想啊，我还不如自己杀了吃呢，总比被狐狸偷去吃了好。于是，他在外出之前就在门口当着猴子的面把鸡杀了，猴子看见猎人拿着刀子割鸡喉咙，怕得连忙用爪子遮住眼睛。猎人一想：“我怎么打这猴子它都不怕，它居然怕杀鸡？哈哈，看来我已经找到解决问题的办法了！”从这以后，猎人每次出去打猎前都会做出杀鸡的样子给猴看。慢慢地，猴子就不敢再任凭狐狸偷鸡了，也不敢再大叫大跳对猎户放肆了，它开始老老实实看家。从那以后，鸡再没被狐狸叼走过。

【寓意】杀鸡儆猴，又叫“杀鸡骇猴”，也叫“杀鸡给猴看”。原意是指在猴子面前杀鸡，故意让猴子看到血腥的场面，使之产生敬畏感，不敢胡作乱为。现喻指用某种手段来惩罚某个犯了小错的人，以此来警告那些已犯错或者意欲犯错的人，要谨言慎为，不要犯错生事。

杀鸡儆猴
To Beat the Dog before the Lion

30.To Beat the Dog before the Lion

【Idiomatic Story】In ancient times，there lived a huntsman who once caught a wild monkey in the mountains.He thought the monkey could look after the house for him when he was out，so he brought it back home and fastened it tightly to the gate with a thick iron chain.One day，he went to cut firewood in the mountain，but he found some of the roosters he raised missing when he returned home.He thought it must have been eaten by the foxes coming from the mountains.He felt very sad and could not help hastening to scold the monkey.He shouted at the monkey，“Why didn't you look after the roosters for me? You will be punished!” However，the naughty monkey seemed to take pleasure in his suffering by shouting and jumping.This enraged the huntsman，but he could do nothing to change the truth.

Several days later，some other roosters were missing again and they must be eaten by the foxes too.The huntsman gave a good beaten to the monkey as punishment.However，it mended no hole.The huntsman found the roosters missing for the third time.He felt very angry when he found only a few roosters left.He thought to himself，“Why should I raise the roosters for the foxes?Why don't I eat the rest roosters myself?” Therefore the huntsman killed the rest roosters in front of the monkey before he left home for business.

The monkey immediately covered its eyes with its hands in fear when it saw the huntsman cutting the neck of the roosters with a sharp knife.The huntsman found the monkey was afraid of chicken-slaughter，so he thought he had got the way to make the monkey help him looking after house and other animals.

From then on，the huntsman would play the same gestures of chicken-slaughter in front of the monkey before he left home.Gradually，the monkey managed to stop the chicken-stealing acts of the foxes and dared not to yell at the huntsman.The monkey began to look after the house loyally.To the satisfaction of the huntsman，he found no roosters missing any longer.

【Implied Meaning】It originally means to kill rooster in front of the monkey in order to warn and even frighten the monkey into obedience.Now it is often used to refer to warning others not to make troubles by punishing someone who has done something wrong.

【注释】

[1]毒：毒害、伤害。