Notes on the Translation of Tiger Hunting by Wei Caotang Tang Weng

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, tigers appeared in Jingde County, Anhui Province. Within a few months, a dozen people who went out of town at night were eaten by tigers. In the past, several merchants were so anxious that many people were injured by tigers at dawn. At that time, a sibling of Ji Xiaolan let it go, and several times called local Orion to search for tigers. As a result, Orion was eaten by several people. For a time, the people of the whole city were in a state of anxiety, and all necessities such as daily necessities such as rice, oil and salt were out of stock. In desperation, a local suggested, "Let's invite Tang of Huizhou to hunt! Unless he comes, he can't eliminate this scourge! " "Who is Don hunting?" asked his younger brother. Do you have this ability? " The man said, "Of course!" Yes, I told another story. Probably in the Ming Dynasty, Huizhou (now Shexian County, Anhui Province). There was a man named Tang who had just been married for a few days, and one day he went into the mountains and was eaten by a tiger. His wife is very sad. After the child was born, she prayed to heaven: "When you grow up and can't kill the tiger, you won't be my son!" " If future generations can't kill the tiger, they can't be regarded as my descendants! "When children grow up, they ask teachers everywhere and finally learn the skill of playing tigers. Since then, the Tang family has been famous for its tiger hunting skills. After hearing this, Ji Xiaolan's brothers discussed with others. Many people know that Tang hunts and agree with this suggestion. So, the next day, the yamen sent someone with a gift and invited Tang to go hunting. A few days later, the person sent came back and said, "The Tang family specially chose two people with the best skills. They are on their way and will arrive soon. "When they arrived, they were very disappointed. It turned out that the Tang family sent two people: a thin old man with white hair and beard, giggling and coughing from time to time, as if he would fall to the ground at any time and never get up again; The other is a big boy of sixteen or seventeen. He seems to have no strength at all. They dare not even think about it. Since Tang sent people to run so far, let's settle down first. At this time, the old man suddenly stepped forward and knelt down and said, "Don't be busy. I heard that tigers are less than five miles from the city. Go and get it back first, then eat it! Ji Xiaolan's relatives said a few kind words and sent someone to take them to the place where the tiger stayed. It's noon. When people from the county government reached the mouth of the valley, they were afraid to go in again. When the old man saw it, he smiled and said, "What are you afraid of with me here? "They had to bite the bullet and move on. Going deep into the canyon, several people have been shivering and don't want to go. The old man looked at the big boy and said, "It depends. The beast seems to be still sleeping. Please wake it up. " The big boy opened his mouth to imitate the howl of the tiger, which startled all the trees and made the leaves fall. After a while, the tiger really came out of the forest. Everyone backed away in fear, and the big boy stepped back a dozen paces, and then stood at a distance. Let the old man stand where he is. The tiger found someone in front, paused, and suddenly jumped on the old man! The old man was holding a short axe about eight or nine inches long and four or five inches wide. The tiger pounced on him, and his right arm stood motionless. The tiger dived in mid-air and the old man avoided the tiger. In the blink of an eye, the tiger passed overhead and was already bleeding when it landed. It trembled a few times and stopped. People came running, convinced that the tiger was really dead, and went to see it in succession. At this time, I discovered that a long crack on the tiger, from its jaw, stomach to tail, split the old man's axe in two! At this time, everyone realized that the old man was not a mortal and went forward for advice. The old man said that for this trick, he practiced shirtless for ten years. Someone waved a broom in front of his eyes, and his eyes wouldn't blink; When his arm is raised horizontally, several strong men can be pulled down. The strong men hung and shook hard, but the old man's arm did not move.