Chinese fable stories

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au>]

Chinese fable stories (2)

黔 驢 技 窮  (黔之 驢)
A hopeless show of strength (Guizhou donkey)    
By 柳宗元 (Liu Zong Yuan 733AD to 819AD)


黔之 驢﹐ 有好事者船載而入。至﹐ 則無可用﹐ 放之山下。
虎見之﹐ 然大物也﹐以為神。
蔽林間窺之﹐ 稍出近之﹐ 憖憖然莫相知。
他日﹐ 驢一鳴﹐ 虎大駭﹐ 遠遁﹐ 以為且噬已也﹐ 甚恐。
 然往來視之﹐ 覺無異能值者。
益習其聲﹐ 又近出前後﹐ 終不敢搏。
稍近﹐ 益狎﹐ 蕩倚沖冒﹐驢不勝怒﹐ 蹄之。
虎因喜﹐ 計之曰﹕”技止此耳“ 
因跳踉大嚼﹐ 斷其喉﹐盡其肉﹐乃去。

噫﹗形之龍也類有德﹐聲之宏也類有能﹐ 向不出其技﹐
虎雖猛﹐ 疑畏卒不敢取﹐ 今若是焉﹐ 悲夫﹗ 

A long time ago donkeys were not known to inhabit the Southwest province
of Guizhou. The people of Guizhou province had not heard of or seen a
donkey before. They absolutely had no idea of what kind of animals the
donkeys were.

One day an idle member of the local rich imported a donkey from another
province in the North. He intentionally let loose the donkey at the foot
of the hill not far from his home village. Unfortunately, there were
tigers in the hill and they occasionally preyed on livestock in the area.
 
By chance a tiger met the donkey but, being the novelty that it was, the
donkey was a strange sight. Fearing that it might lose should a fight take
place with the donkey, the tiger stayed well clear. Just then the donkey
made a loud cry and the tiger bolted away in sheer terror.
 
A few days later the same tiger met the donkey again in the same location.
This time the tiger did nothing but watched the donkey closely.  It looked
at the donkey for a long time. The tiger got used to its shape, its size
and the noise it made occasionally. Familiarity bred contempt. The tiger
was not afraid of the donkey anymore.
 
In order to test the ability of the donkey the tiger went near it and
swang its paw. The donkey became angry and made a loud cry, the old trick
exhibited a few days earlier. But this time the tiger retreated but did
not run away. The tiger went near the donkey again. The donkey turned
around and raised its hind legs to kick at the tiger. Its kicks were weak
and harmless.

The donkey had betrayed its strength and ability. The tiger knew that
although it had a reasonable size, it was a feeble animal. The tiger went
even nearer and the donkey persisted with its futile kicks. The tiger
pounced on it and killed it for dinner.

Alas! According to its size the donkey was like a dragon yet it had no
virtue. The donkey's cry was loud as if it was capable to show its talent.
Though the tiger was very fierce, at first, it was afraid of the donkey.
Now the poor donkey was being eaten by the tiger.

The moral of this storng is that although the donkey is big and looks
formidable yet it is hopeless and impotent. However, donkey is a beast of
burden but tiger is a harmful animal except it is good for Chinese
medicine. The environmentalists will not like my remark on the tiger.  

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan		chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au
Copyright 1999. All rights reserved.