指鹿为马的故事
秦二世时,丞相赵高野心勃勃,日夜盘算着要篡夺皇位。可朝中大臣有多少人能听他摆布,有多少人反对他,他心中没底。于是,他想了一个办法,准备试一试自己的威信,同时也可以摸清敢于反对他的人。
一天上朝时,赵高让人牵来一只鹿,满脸堆笑地对秦二世说:“陛下,我献给您一匹好马。”秦二世一看,心想:这哪里是马,这分明是一只鹿嘛!便笑着对赵高说:“丞相搞错了,这里一只鹿,你怎么说是马呢?”赵高面不改色心不跳地说:“请陛下看清楚,这的确是一匹千里马。”秦二世又看了看那只鹿,将信将疑地说:“马的头上怎么会长角呢?”赵高一转身,用手指着众大臣,大声说:“陛下如果不信我的话,可以问问众位大臣。”
大臣们都被赵高的一派胡言搞得不知所措,私下里嘀咕:这个赵高搞什么名堂?是鹿是马这不是明摆着吗!当看到赵高脸上露出阴险的笑容,两只眼睛骨碌碌轮流地盯着赵高脸上露出阴险的笑容,两只眼睛骨碌碌轮流地盯着每个人的时候,大臣们忽然明白了他的用意。
一些胆小又有正义感的人都低下头,不敢说话,因为说假话,对不起自己的良心,说真话又怕日后被赵高所害。有些正直的人,坚持认为是说明书而不是马。还有一些平时就紧跟赵高的奸佞之人立刻表示拥护赵高的说法,对皇上说,“这确是一匹千里马!”
事后,赵高通过各种手段把那些不顺从自己的正直大臣纷纷治罪,甚至满门抄斩。
故事出自《史记·秦始皇本纪》。成语“指鹿为马”比喻故意颠倒是非,混淆黑白。
calling a stag a horsein the reign of emperor the second of the qin dynasty (221-207 b.c.), the prime minister zhao gao, obsessed with ambitions, was planning to usurp the throne day and night. but he did not know how many of the ministers in the court were allowed to be ordered about by him and how many of them were his opponents. so he thought out a way to test how high his prestige among the ministers was and also to find out who dared to oppose him. one day when court was held, zhao gao let someone bring a stag to the court and, with a broad smile on his face, he said to emperor the second of the qin dynasty:"your majesty, here is a fine horse i'm presenting to you." looking at the animal, emperor the second thought that it was obviously a stag and that it couldn't be a horse. so he said smilingly to zhao gao:"mister prime minister, you are wrong. this is a stay. why do you say it is a horse?" remaining calm, zhao gao said:"will your majesty please see more clearly? this really is a horse that covers a thousand li a day." filled with suspicion, emperor the second looked at the stag again and said:"how can the antlers be grown on the head of a horse?" turning around and pointing his finger at the ministers, zhao gao said in a loud voice:"if our majesty do not believe me, you can ask the ministers." the nonsense of zhao gao made the ministers totally at a lose, and they whispered to themselves: what tricks was zhao gao playing? was it not obvious whether it was a stag or a horse? but when they saw the sinister smile on zhao gao's face and his two rolling eyes which were gazing at each of them, they suddenly understood his evil intentions. some of the ministers who were timid and yet had a sense of right eousness did not dare to say anything, because to tell lies would make their conscience uneasy and to tell the truth would mean that they would be persecuted by zhao gao later. some ministers with a sense of justice persisted that it was a stag and not a horse. there were still some crafty and fawning ministers who followed zhao gao closely in ordinary times. they immediately voiced their support to zhao gao, saying to the emperor:"this really in a horse that covers a thousand li a day." after the event, zhao gao punished by various means those ministers with a sense of justice who were not obedient to him, even with whole families of some of those ministers executed. this story appears in "the life of the first emperor of the qin dynasty" in the historical records written by sima qian. from this story people have derived the set phrase "calling a stag a horse" to mean deliberately misrepresenting some thing and misleading the public.
-
如火如荼的故事
春秋时代末期,吴国国王夫差连续征服了越国、鲁国和齐国,雄心勃勃,又继续向西北进军,打算一鼓作气征服晋国。可正在这个时候,越王勾践抄了吴王的后路。他带领军队一直打到吴国的国都姑苏(苏州),又派人马占据淮河,把吴王的退路切断了。这消息给吴王夫差当头泼了一盆冷水,他...
-
守株待兔的故事
相传在战国时代宋国,有一个农民,日出而作,日入而息.遇到好年景,也不过刚刚吃饱穿暖;一遇灾荒,可就要忍饥挨饿了.他想改善生活,但他太懒,胆子又特小,干什么都是又懒又怕,总想碰到送上门来的意外之财。奇迹终于发生了。深秋的一天,他正在田里耕地,周围有人在打猎。吆喝之声四处...
-
不寒而栗的故事
汉武帝时,有一个人名叫义纵,因为受到太后的恩宠,做了上党郡某县令。上任以后,公务办得很出色,案子处理上敢作敢为,不论是有钱有势的豪绅,还是平民,只要犯了法,义纵秉公审办,皇上很赞赏他,调他做河内郡都尉。一到任,他立即把祸害一方的豪门大族满门抄斩,一时间,河内郡的治安和...
-
按图索骥的故事
春秋时候,秦国有个叫孙阳的人,擅长相马,无论什么样的马,他一眼就能分出优劣。他常常被人请去识马、选马,人们都称他为伯乐(伯乐本是天上的星名,据说负责管理天马)。有一次,孙阳路过一个地方,忽见一匹拖着盐车的老马冲他叫个不停,走近一看,原来是匹千里马,只是年龄稍大了点。...