孔子和柳下季是好朋友。
柳下季有个弟弟叫盗跖，他是个非常有名的盗贼。
有一天，孔子对柳下季说：“你是鲁国的聪明人，而你的弟弟却是盗贼的首领，你不觉得羞耻吗？如果你同意的话，我愿意去劝劝他。”
柳下季回答：“我的弟弟盗跖脾气很坏，很容易生气，不是随便可以劝得动的。你最好不要去。”
但是孔子还是决定去看盗跖。
结果，他被盗跖冷言冷语地羞辱了一顿，垂头丧气地回去了。
回到鲁国后，有一次，孔子遇到了柳下季。
柳下季问他：“这几天，你是不是去看盗跖了？”
孔子回答：“是的！盗跖果然像你说的那样不受教，顺着他的人才能活下来，不顺从他的人就会死。我去见他，就像‘料虎头，编虎须’一样，差点被老虎吃掉。”
后来，“虎口余生”这句成语就被用来比喻冒大险而不死。
Confucius and Liu Xiaji were good friends.
Liu Xiaji had a younger brother named Daozhi, who was a very famous thief.
One day, Confucius said to Liu Xiaji, "You are the wise man of Lu State, but your brother is the leader of thieves. Don't you feel ashamed? If you agree, I would like to persuade him."
Liu Xiaji replied, "My brother Daozhi has a bad temper and gets angry easily. He can't be persuaded easily. You'd better not go."
But Confucius still decided to see Daozhi.
As a result, he was insulted coldly by Daozhi and returned home with his head down.
Back in Lu State, Confucius met Liu Xiaji one day.
Liu Xiaji asked him, "Have you seen Daozhi these days?"
Confucius replied, "Yes! As you said, Daozhi is indeed unteachable. Those who follow him can survive, while those who don't will die. When I saw him, it was like touching the tiger's head and combing its whiskers. I almost got eaten by the tiger."
Later, the idiom 'Survival from Tiger's Mouth' was used to describe surviving a great danger.
