CHINESE METAPHORICAL ZOOLOGY 33 



and the tiger which remains in its den (Jk'XWX). By 

 tempting^ providence like rushing against a horse's head 

 (ffl M fe M), in the long run there is no possible doubt 

 whatever that he will find himself in serious difficulties, like 

 a sheep caught in a bamboo fence (^ & %. @), or a person 

 seated between a bullock's horns (^ & fa ft)] or, like the 

 lady of Kiga, in the unpleasant -position of ridinq a tiqer 

 (It 2ft £ »). 



By keeping a clear conscience, one may be free of 

 imaginary fears, such as were conjured up by the snake in 

 the cup and the tiger in the market (U 3$ tfJ fit)— a reference 

 to a man, who, seeing the reflection of a bow in a cup of 

 wine, imagined he was about to swallow a snake, and of 

 another who was afraid there was a tiger in the market — or 

 imagining that every sound of the wind and screech of the 

 jiassing cranes was an enemy ( E W JH m), or being the victim 

 of illusions like the Kiangsu buffaloes which pant at the moon 

 (^ ^ P& B ) — in mistake for the hot sun — or resembling 

 the Szechuan dogs which bark in fear at the unexpected 

 appearance of the sun (M it 8ft ). 



There are many people of limited intelligence in this 

 world, like the frog in the well (^ g !8 $|), which sits looking 

 at the sky (4fe #• M 2c). Their ideas are as restricted as 

 the view of a weevil in a hollow bamboo (^ & £. JL), and so 

 narrow-minded that they would look at a leopard through a 

 tube (if tf» H Wi) and thus only perceive one spot at a time. 

 They are certainly never likely to set the Yangtze on fire, 

 nor to catch the three-legged toad (H ISP £g $H), which only 

 exists in the moon. 



A very talkative person is compared to a roaring lion 

 with open jaws (13 D 1$ ^), and while he holds the floor 

 there will certainly be dead silence, and no sound of sparrows 

 or crows (3£ St 3H H), yet he is better than the speechless 

 dummy, who has not acquired the art of conversation, and 

 merely resembles a wooden chicken in appearance ( J(£ M 

 ?k $&). However if he makes indirect insinuations and 

 curses a dog while pointing at a chicken ($1 8£ H $/ )» 

 no doubt he will not find ready listeners on a second occasion, 

 for they will be like the bird which fears the bow (ft ^ t M), 

 or "once bit twice shy"; they will choose their associates 

 with better care in future as good birds choose their branches 

 to roost upon (5 & *f *), and flee away from the scene as 

 if transformed into yellow cranes (4b ^ ^ II). 



When the heavenly dog eats up the sun (2c $ £ ), 



resulting in a total eclipse of that luminary, one would 



hardly suppose that any amount of gong-beating would force 



him to disgorge this somewhat indigestible piece de resis- 



3 



