In ancient times, at the foot of Mount Tai surrounded by mountains, one often heard of tales of tigers devouring² people

 

One day, Confucius and his disciples⁴ passed by Mount Tai. As they walked along, his disciples talked about what they had heard and seen.

 

Suddenly, they heard someone weeping in the distance. They went over and saw a young woman who, with her head covered with a white kerchief, wore white cotton clothes, trousers, shoes and stockings. She was kneeling in front of a new grave and weeping bitterly. The disciples didn't know what to do. Confucius ordered one of them to go forward and ask: "Who has died? Why are you weeping in such sorrow?"

 

The woman raised her head, wiped her red and swollen⁵ eyes, sobbed⁶ and answered intermittently⁷: "In the past, my father-in-law was devoured⁸ by a tiger. Later, my husband was devoured by a tiger too. Now my son has also been bitten to death by a tiger."

 

Confucius' disciple³ asked worriedly: "The tiger harmed the lives of three generations of your family. Why didn't you leave this place earlier and move to somewhere else?"

 

The woman sobbed, saying: "There are tigers here, but there are no exorbitant⁹ taxes, levies¹⁰ or heavy corvee here!" When Confucius heard this, he turned to his disciples and said: "Remember, tigers devour¹ people, but tyranny is fiercer than tigers!"

 

古代，在群山环抱的泰山脚下，常常听到老虎吃人的事情。

 

有一天，孔子带着弟子路过泰山。弟子们一边走，一边谈论着所见所闻。

 

忽然，听到远处传来哭声。大家便走了过去，一看原来是一个年轻的妇女，头上包着白色的头巾，身上穿着白布衣裤，脚上套着白布鞋袜，正跪在一座新坟前面痛哭。弟子们不知如何是好，孔子叫弟子上前询问：“死了谁？你为什么哭得这么伤心？”

 

妇女抬起头来，擦着红肿的眼睛，抽泣着断断续续地回答：“从前，我的公公被老虎吃掉了。后来，我的丈夫又被老虎吃掉了。如今，我的儿子也被老虎咬死了。”

 

孔子的弟子着急地问道：“老虎伤害了你家三代人的性命，你为什么不早点儿离开这里，搬到别处去呢？”

 

妇女哭着说：“这里有老虎，但是没有苛捐杂税和繁重的摇役啊！孔子听到这儿，回过头来，对弟子们说：“你们记住，老虎吃人，可是苛政比老虎还要凶猛啊！”

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