---
title: 30.打跑老虎的雞 The Chickens That Fought Off A Tiger
description: "Sometimes Chinese do not call a person by his name, but by his number in the family. In Chuzhou there was a minor offici"
---

30. THE CHICKENS THAT FOUGHT OFF A TIGER

　　Sometimes Chinese do not call a person by his name, but by his number in the family. In Chuzhou there was a minor official everyone called Fang 3, because he was his parents' third son.

　　Fang 3 was a nice man. Everyone liked him. One day he went to the Hou farm to collect taxes.

　　"Brother Hou, I have to ask you to pay this year's taxes. I know nobody likes to pay tax, but I have to report to my boss."

　　Hou 2 very politely said, "Fang 3, you must know that this year's harvest was terrible. We simply don't have anything to pay you with. Could you possibly give us ten days or half a month? Maybe we can gather some firewood to sell and get some money to pay our taxes to the Emperor."

　　Fang 3 paused to consider. Hou 2 told his wife to prepare a meal for their guest. Just as Mrs. Hou walked out the door with the butcher knife, Fang caught a glimpse of a woman in brown standing outside the door begging him to be kind.

　　Just then he heard a hen clucking. He knew that hen was brown. He told Hou,"I've already eaten. You don't have to cook anything for me." So Mrs. Hou put down her knife, and the hen was spared.

　　When Fang came back a few weeks later for the tax money, that brown hen was waiting respectfully outside the gate for him. She had her little chicks lined up and they all seemed happy to see him.

　　Fang got the tax money and left. As he crossed the stream by Hou's farm and climbed the hill on the far side, a tiger came rushing out of the forest and pounced at him. Fang 3 was petrified. He shut his eyes and prepared to be eaten.

　　Then he heard a strange sound, and saw the hen and her chicks attacking the tiger! But how could some chickens possibly fight off a tiger? They flew at its eyes and pecked and pecked. The tiger howled and ran away.

　　Fang 3 fainted like a dead man. When he came to, he went back to the Hou farm and bought the hen and her brood for a high price. He carried them home and took good care of them forever after.

30. 打跑老虎的雞

　　有時侯中國人稱呼人時，不用他的名字，而用他在家里的排行。在滁州，有一個小官吏，每個人都叫他方三，因為他是父母的第三個兒子。

　　方三是一個善良的人。每個人都喜歡他。一天他去侯家收稅。

　　「侯兄弟，我是來請你交稅的。我知道沒人願意交稅，但是我還得向自己的上司交代啊。」

　　侯二很客氣地說，「方三，你也知道，今年的收成特別差。我們真的沒有東西可以交啊。你能給我們十天半月的時間吧？也許我們能砍些柴來賣掉，搞點錢交稅給皇上了。」

　　方三想了一下。侯二叫他的妻子給他們的客人準備一餐。當侯夫人拿著屠刀出門時，方瞥見有一個穿著褐色衣服的女人，站在門口外求他發發善心。

　　當他聽到有一只母雞咯咯叫時，他意識到那只雞也是褐色的。他告訴侯二「我已經吃過了。你不要為我準備什麼了。」于是侯夫人放下了她的刀，那只母雞得救了。

　　當幾個星期後，方三再來收稅時，那只褐母雞正恭敬地在門口等他。 它讓它的小雞排成一列 ，見到方三，它們看上去都很高興。

　　方得到了稅錢，離開了。正當他跨越過侯家田地的小溪，爬上遠處的小山時，一只老虎從樹林里沖出來，撲向他。方三嚇呆了。他閉上眼睛等死。

　　然後他聽到一陣奇怪的聲音，看到那只母雞和它的小雞正在和那只老虎搏斗！但是，幾只雞怎麼能打跑老虎呢？它們飛向老虎的眼睛，不停地啄它地眼珠。老虎嚎叫著跑掉了。

　　方三暈死過去。當他醒來後，他去侯家用高價買下了那只母雞和它的小雞。他把它們帶回家，從此細心照顧它們。