CHINESE METAPHORICAL ZOOLOGY 3] 



Bad characters abound in this world, just as a number 

 of mosquitoes make a noise like thunder (314* j£©), and 

 revolution breaks out in China like ivasps rising in a swarm 

 (&$lffiii). Evil men become banded together for en! 

 purposes like the wolf and the Pel (SI 31 2$ $f)_ the latter 

 being a legendary animal with short forelegs and long hind 

 ones, supposed to ride on the back of the wolf, which, con- 

 versely, has long forelegs and short hind ones, so that each 

 profits by the advantages of the other. These kind of villains 

 are sometimes in league with the police, which is indeed a 

 case of the cat and rat sleeping together (3S H fSJ HE). They 

 lay themselves out to deceive, and will even go so far as 

 to palm off fishes' eyes as pearls (^ B *& ££), or to call a deer 

 a horse ( £§ ,B§ % J!), if such curious proceedings could further 

 their wicked and malignant designs; this last metaphor is 

 derived from the story of Chao Kao (H if&), a notorious 

 eunuch of the Ch'in dynasty, who presented the Emperor 

 Erh Shih Huang Ti (- ft I f ) — of the 3rd century b.c 



— with a stag, saying that it was a horse. Those among the 

 surrounding courtiers who were bold enough to contradict the 

 great man, and insist that it was a stag, were marked down 

 by Chao for destruction as his enemies. If a man is too 

 cunning, however, his friends desert him, for no fish can be 

 found in clear ivater (?Jt $r M &)■ Specious and crafty 

 individuals with the head of a snake and the eyes of a rat 

 (Wo 51 M, BR), speaking fair words with the benevolent mouth 

 of a Buddha, but having a serpentine nature (#& P ^ »&»), 

 full of trickery and deception, with the head and brain of a 

 monkey ($S @ $S US), should be regarded with as much 

 aversion as snakes and scorpions (IB fe ££ UR), while the un- 

 settled and unreliable vagabond, with an ape-like disposition 

 and thoughts as restless as galloping steeds ('Mi ffi), 

 or those * happy-go-lucky rolling stones floating about in 

 an aimless manner like a duck on the water (^ 3g= 7 N •&) 



— a mixed metaphor, taking us rather out of our depth — 

 should always be avoided under any circumstances, as they 

 never come to any good. The only way to deal with all such 

 persons is to make examples of them as rogues and vaga- 

 bonds and thereby kill a chicken to warn an ape (%* $£ W W)v 

 a general feeling of security will then ensue, and the fowls 

 ami dogs will not be alarmed in the villages and hamlets 



f$i ^c ^ ft)- 



The ways of the world are as tortuous as the guts of a 

 sheep (Hfc Sfr ¥> B§), and in making acquaintances due caution 

 should be observed; friends of foxy and canine natures 

 m I«S) should be given a wide berth, as they are merely 

 wine and flesh friends (M * M Jfc), who only show cupboard 



