在兽类中我最爱虎，在虎的故事中我最爱下面的一个： 深山中有一所古庙，几个和尚在那里过着单调的修行生活Q。
And of all the stories about it, the following is my favourite: There was deep in a mountain an ancient temple where several pious Buddhist monks lived a monotonous life.
同 他们做朋友的，除了有时上山来的少数乡下人外，就是几只猛虎。
They had for company only a number of tigers apart from a few country folks who occasionally came up the mountain for a visit.
虎不惊扰僧人，却替他们守护庙宇。
Instead of harassing the monks, the tigers voluntarily stood guard at the gate of the temple.
作为报酬，和尚把一些可吃的 东西放在庙门前。
As a reward for it, the monks would place some edibles in front of the gate for the tigers to eat.
每天傍晚，夕阳染红小半个天空，虎们成群地走 到庙门口，吃了东西，跳跃而去。
Towards evening, when the setting sun had dyed half of the sky red, the tigers would come up to the gate in groups to eat their fill and then left skipping and jumping.
如果看不见僧人，虎们就发出几声长啸，随 着几阵风飞腾而去。
Sometimes, when they found no monks at the gate, they would whisk away like the wind after uttering several thunderous roars.
可惜我不能走到这座深山，去和猛虎为友。
It's a pity that I'm unable to gO to the mountain to make friends with the fierce tigers.
Can only see the lovely animal in my dreams Once in a while.
万兽之王的这种余威，我们也还可以在作了槛 内囚徒的虎身上看出来。
One can visualize in the caged animal the power of the erstwhile king of beasts.
倘使放它出柙，它仍会奔回深山，重做山林 的霸主の。
Set it free, and it will go right back to the remote mountains to lord it over the forest again.
我记起一件事情：三十一年前，父亲在广元做县官。
Thirty-one years ago, remember, when my father was magistrate of Guangyuan County a local hunter suddenly visited him one evening to present him with a dead tiger.
有天晚上，一个本地猎户忽然送来一只死虎，他带着一脸惶恐的表情对我父亲 發 176 说，他人山打猎，只想猎到狼、狐、豺、狗，却不想误杀了万兽之王。
He told my father nervously that he had killed the king of beasts by mistake for he had been to the mountains exclusively to hunt wolves, foxes, jackals and dogs.
他不敢冒犯虎威，怕虎对他报仇，但是他又不 能使枉死的虎复活，因此才把死虎带来献给"父母官"，以为可以 减轻他的罪过。
He added that he had by no means killed the tiger on purpose, that he was affraid that the mighty tiger would retaliate against him for his serious offence and that since the dead animal could not be revived, he had brought it as a gift to my father the magistrate in order to have his own crime mitigated.
父亲给了猎人若干钱，便接受了这个礼物。
My father accepted it and gave him some money in return.
死虎在衙 门里躺了一天，才被剥了皮肢解了。
The dead tiger lay in the yamen for a day until it was skinned and dismembered.
后来父亲房内多了一张虎皮椅 垫四，而且常常有人到我们家里要虎骨粉去泡酒当药吃。
From then on, my father had 21 new acquisition in his room namely, the tiger-skin chair cushion, and people often came to Our home to ask for some tiger-bone powder, with which they were to make a medicinal drink by steeping it in liquor.
我们一家人带着虎的头骨回到成都。
Later, when my family moved back to Chengdu, we brought the tiger's skull with us.
头骨放在桌上，有时我眼睛 看花了，会看出一个活的虎头来。
Sometimes I would gaze at the skull on the table until it blurred before my eyes and conjured up in me visions of a live tiger's head.
经过三十年的长岁月，人应该忘记了许多事情。
Things that happened some thirty years ago are apt to be forgotten.
但是到今天我还 记得虎头骨的形状，和猎人说话时的惶恐表情。
But even to this day I still remember the appearance of the tiger's skull and the apprehension in the hunter's face while he addressed my father. \] KO ov/ 179 should say that his facial expression boiled down to this: he looked as if he had blasphemed the gods.
我还要补充说國：他说话时不大敢看死虎，他的眼光偶尔挨到 它，他就要变脸色。
And I would also like to add in passing that while he was talking to my father he didn't even dare a to take a glance at the dead tiger.
死了以后，还能够使人害怕，使人尊敬，像虎这样的猛兽，的 确是值得我们热爱的。
A fierce animal like the tiger, which continues to inspire us with reverent awe even after death, really deserves our warm love.
死了以后，还能够使人害怕，使人尊敬™，像虎这样的猛兽，的 确是值得我们热爱的。
A fierce animal like the tiger, which continues to inspire us with reverent awe even after death, really deserves our warm love.