During the Warring States period (475-221B.C.), Prince Mengchang of the State of Qi was fond of having various kinds of people as his hangers-on, the number of whom was said to have amounted to three thousand. Never refusing anyone who came to home, he let the talented people do what they could and also offered food and lodging¹ to the mediocre².

 

Once, followed by his hangers-on, Prince Mengchang was sent on a diplomatic mission to the State of Qin. Attermpting to make him prime minister of the state of Qin, King Zhao of the State of Qin kept hime from leaving. Not daring to offend the king, Prince Mengchang stay here. He is a person of royal lineage, and has feud³ and family back in the State of Qi, How could he serve the State of Qin heart and soul?"The king thought it plausible⁴, and changed his mind. He put Prince Mengchang and his hangers-on under house arrest, waiting to find an excuse to kill them.

 

The king had an imperial concubine on whom he doted most, and he never refused her anything, Prince Mengchang sent a man to her for help. The concubine promised to help if she could have the unique white fox fur coat of the State of Qi as her reward. Prince Mengchang was troubled, for he had already given it to the king of the State of Oin as a gift when he arrived here. Just then, one of the hangers-on said, "I can manage to get it ." He left immediately.

 

It turned out that this man was a skilled burglar who used to enter horses through the hole for dogs in the wall. He made an investigation⁵ first, and learned that the king was too fond of the fox fur coat to wear it and that the coat was kept in the choice storeroom in the palace. Eluding⁶ the patrol, he found his way easily in the moonlight into the storeroom and got the fur coat out. Seeing the coat, the concubine was extremely pleased, She tried every means to talk the king into giving up the idea of killing⁷ Prince Mengchang. The king also planned to give a farewell dinner to Prince Mengchang two days later before sending him back to the State of Qi.

 

But Prince Mengchang did not dare to wait two more days. Mounting the horses, he and his men sped stealthily eastward⁸ that very night. It was just midnight when they arrived at the Hangu Pass (in today's Lingbao County in Henan Province, which was the east gate of the State of Qin). According to the laws of the State of Qin, the gate of the pass should not be opened until cocks crew in the morning. But how could they crow at midnight? They were very much worried when they heard a cock crowing. Immediately all the cocks inside and outside the pass followed the cock in crowing. It turned out that one other hanger-on could imitate the cock's crow very well, and the first crow was actually his imitation. The guards of the pass felt it very strange to have heard the cocks' crow before they could hardly have had enough sleep. Nevertheless, they had to open the gate of the pass and let them go. 

 

At dawn, the king of the State of Qin learned that Prince Mengchang and his men had escaped. He immediately sent his troops to chase them. When the troops arrived. He immediately sent his troops to chase them. When the troops arrived at the Hangu Pass , they had gone for a long time.

 

With the help of those people who knew small tricks such as crowing like a cock and snatching like a dog, Prince Mengchang finally got back to the State of Qi.

 

This story appears in"The Life of Prince Mengchang" in the Historical Records written by Sima Qian. Later, the set phrase"crowing like a cock and snatching like a dog" is used to refer to small tricks or people who know small tricks.

 

战国时候，齐国的孟尝君喜欢招纳各种人做门客，号称宾客三千。他对宾客是来者不拒，有才能的让他们各尽其能，没有才能的也提供食宿。

 

有一次，孟尝君率领众宾客出使秦国。秦昭王将他留下，想让他当相国。孟尝君不敢得罪秦昭王，只好留下来。不久，大臣们劝秦王说：“留下孟尝君对秦国是不利的，他出身王族，在齐国有封地，有家人，怎么会真心为秦国办事呢？”秦昭王觉得有理，便改变了主意，把孟尝君和他的手下人软禁起来，只等找个借口杀掉。 

 

泰昭王有个最受宠爱的妃子，只要妃子说一，昭王绝不说二。孟尝君派人去求她救助。妃子答应了，条件是拿齐国那一件天下无双的狐白裘（用白色狐腋的皮毛做成的皮衣）做报酬。这可叫孟尝君作难了，因为刚到秦国，他便把这件狐白裘献给了秦昭王。就在这时候，有一个门客说：“我能把狐白裘找来！”说完就走了。 

 

原来这个门客最善于钻狗洞偷东西。他先摸清情况，知道昭王特别喜爱那件狐裘，一时舍不得穿，放在宫中的精品贮藏室里。他便借着月光，逃过巡逻人的眼睛，轻易地钻进贮藏室把狐裘偷出来。妃子见到狐白裘高兴极了，想方设法说服秦昭王放弃了杀孟尝君的念头，并准备过两天为他饯行，送他回齐国。 

 

孟尝君可不敢再等过两天，立即率领手下人连夜偷偷骑马向东快奔。到了函谷关（在现在河南省灵宝县，当时是秦国的东大门）正是半夜。按秦国法规，函谷关每天鸡叫才开门，半夜时候，鸡可怎么能叫呢？大家正犯愁时，只听见几声“喔，喔，喔”的雄鸡啼鸣，接着，城关外的雄鸡都打鸣了。原来，孟尝君的另一个门客会学鸡叫，而鸡是只要听到第一声啼叫就立刻会跟着叫起来的。怎么还没睡蹭实鸡就叫了呢？守关的士兵虽然觉得奇怪，但也只得起来打开关门，放他们出去。 #p#分页标题#e#

 

天亮了，秦昭王得知孟尝君一行已经逃走，立刻派出人马追赶。追到函谷关，人家已经出关多时了。

 

孟尝君靠着鸡鸣狗盗之士逃回了齐国。

 

故事出自《史记·孟尝君列传》。成语“鸡呜狗盗”比喻卑下的技能或具有这种技能的人。