鼠鹿故事盛行於東南亞地區，多以機智勇敢、以弱勝強為主題內容。在馬來西亞，鼠鹿故事更是教科書和兒童課外讀物中的熱門故事，普遍予人一種教育典範的正面形象。然而，若進一步追溯和搜集可以發現，早期故事中的鼠鹿形象相當複雜，當中的負面特質（如殘暴、冷漠、自私、頑劣、狡詐等）尤其值得探討。少數幾位學者注意到鼠鹿形象的負面特質，但將之歸為「淘氣」、「捉狹」等含包容、容忍的結語，對這類鼠鹿故事中的暴力情節和敘事並不深究。鼠鹿正邪並存的形象特質仍有很大的討論空間。鑒於鼠鹿故事屬於民間故事的範疇，而民間故事所蘊含的倫理價值也被證實是異於主流或精英文化思想，而具有荒誕、隨意、不穩定性等特質，本文從民間倫理的角度，解釋馬來（西）亞鼠鹿故事中鼠鹿形象的異質面，即可以理解為一種民間敘事上的策略需求和審美取向（不同程度的遊戲精神和暴力意識），同時也是民間故事這種敘事形式背後的深層意識，一種來自民間倫理的本能情感（批判和抵抗強權、宣洩不滿和憤怒）。雖然，缺乏節制的暴力想像與敘事在「大傳統」的監控下，逐步受到文明化處理，但通過分析早期鼠鹿故事中正統倫理與邊緣倫理共存的文本內容，可以看到馬來（西）亞地區民間對生命倫理的思考與觀念體現。

The Kancil (mousedeer) is a small and lovable creature found in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. Tales about this animal that tell of its ability to out-wit much stronger animals are popular in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore. This positive image of the Kancil is an accepted educational model in the textbooks and juvenile readings of Malaysia. However, several scholars have pointed out that the Kancil has been known to be selfish, indifferent, cunning, deceitful and even violent and cruel. However, these characteristics have been widely interpreted as part of the “mischievous” nature of this creature. As Kancil stories are popular folktales, the negative traits of the creature are generally disregarded by mainstream literature or elitist culture, but are instead looked upon as make-believe, inconsequential, or impermanent. From the perspective of folk ethics, this paper aims to analyse the negative image of the Kancil in order to understand the narrative needs and intention of folktales as well as its ethical meanings to the grassroots. However, due to the vigilance of the “great tradition” over the exaggeration of deceit and violence in narration, these negative qualities have been “civilized” in official and elite circles. By exposing the coexistence of positive and marginal ethical values embedded in Kancil stories, we may better understand the meanings of these values to the lives and thoughts of the common people of Malaysia.