丁岩Man and Tiger: Coexistence

古文

贞元十四年中，多虎暴，白昼噬人。时淮上阻兵，因以武将王徵牧申州焉。徵至，则大修擒虎具，兵仗坑阱，靡不备设。又重悬购，得一虎而酧十缣焉。

有老卒丁岩者善为陷阱，遂列于太守，请山间至路隅，张设以图之。徵既许，不数日，而获一虎焉。虎在深坑，无施勇力。岩遂俯而下视，加以侮诮，虎则跳跃哮吼，怒声如雷。而聚观之徒，千百其众。岩炫其计得，夸喜异常。时方被酒，因为衣襟罥挂树根，而坠阱中。众共嗟骇，谓靡粉于暴虎之爪牙矣。

及就窥，岩乃端坐，而虎但瞪视耳。岩之亲爱忧岩，乃共设计，以辘轳下巨索。伺岩自缚，当遽引上，或希十一之全。岩得索。则缠缚腰肢，挥手，外人则共引之。去地三二尺，其虎则以前足捉其索而留焉。意态极仁。如此数四。2岩因而谓之曰：“尔辈纵暴，入郭犯人。事须剪除，理宜及此。顾尔之命，且在顷刻。吾因沉醉，误落此中。众所未便屠者，盖以我故也。3尔若损我，固激怒众人。我气未绝，即当薪火乱投，尔为灰烬矣。尔不若从吾，当启白太守，舍尔之命。冀尔率领群辈，远离此土。斯亦渡河他适，尔所知者矣。我当质之天日，不渝此约。”其虎谛听，若有知解，岩则引绳，众共出之。虎乃弭耳瞩目，不复留。

岩既得出，遂以其事白于邦伯。曰：“今杀一虎，不足禳群辈之暴，况与试约，乞舍之，冀其率侣四出，管界获宁耳。”徵许之。岩遂以太守之意，丁宁告谕。虎于陷中，踊跃盘旋，如荷恩施。岩即积土坑侧，稍益浅，犹深丈许。虎乃跃而出4，奋迅踯腾，啸风而逝。

自是旬朔之内，群虎屏迹，而山野晏然矣。吁！保全躯命之计，虽在异类，亦有可观者焉。若暴虎之猛悍，况厄陷阱，得人固当恣其狂怒，决裂噬啮，以豁其情。斯虎乃因岩以图全，而果谐焉。何其智哉！而岩能以言词诱谕，通于强戾，果致族行出境之异。况免挂罥之害，又何智哉！5斯乃信诚交感之致耳。於戏，信诚之为物也，何其神欤！

译文

贞元十四年中，虎害猖獗，大白天就吃人。当时便部署了兵力以维持淮上安定，武将王徵做了申州太守。就任伊始，王徵就大力准备捕虎器具和兵器，挖坑阱。还重金悬赏，谁捉到一只虎就赏给十匹丝绸。

有一个叫丁岩的老兵，善于设陷阱。他向太守请战，要在山间和路边设陷阱捕虎。获得准许后不几天，丁岩果然捉到一只老虎。老虎被困在深坑里，没法施展它的威力了。丁岩从坑顶往下看，还说了一些讥诮侮辱老虎的话。老虎又蹦又跳，吼声如雷。围观的人成百上千，丁岩炫耀自己捕虎成功，异常得意。他刚喝过酒，不小心衣襟挂到树根上，跌落到陷阱里。众人一齐惊叫起来，以为他肯定要被虎爪撕成碎片。

等人们走近了一看，丁岩竟然在坑里端坐着，老虎也只是瞪眼看着他。丁岩的亲戚朋友担心他的性命，就共同想办法救他，用辘轳放下去一根大绳子，等丁岩自己捆住身子，迅速把他拽上来，或许能有十分之一的希望。丁岩抓到绳子，往腰上一缠，便向上挥手。阱外的人就一齐往上拽，可离开坑底才二三尺，那老虎就用前爪抓住绳子，不让他走。老虎的样子很仁慈。这样反复了四次，丁岩就对老虎说：“你们恣意行凶，进到城中害人，必须灭除，事理本该如此。看来你的性命，就在顷刻之间。我因为喝醉了，误落到这里边。大伙没有马上就杀死你，是因为我的原因。你要是害我，必然会激怒众人，不等我死，他们就得把柴火乱投进来，那样你就变成灰烬了。你不如听我的话，我去向太守说明后，放你一条生路，希望你率领着你的同类们，远远地离开这个地区，也就是过河到其他地方去。我向天发誓，我绝不违背约定。”那老虎认真地听，好像能听懂。丁岩就拉动一下绳子，让大家把他拽上去。老虎静静地看着，没有再阻拦他。

丁岩上来之后，将事情经过禀报了太守，说：“现在即使杀死这只老虎，也不能消除所有虎患，而且我和老虎已有约定，恳请您放它一条生路，希望它能率领虎群到别处去，我们的管界就安宁了。”王徵同意了。丁岩于是把太守的意思告诉了老虎。老虎在陷阱中又是蹦跳又是转圈，就像受了恩德。丁岩就在坑的一侧填土，坑慢慢变浅了，还有一丈来深。虎就跳了出来，振奋地腾跃几下，吼叫着跑去。

只过了十几天的功夫，虎群就不见了，山野一片宁静。啊！保全自己的生命，即使是在异类之间，也是可圈可点的！老虎那样猛悍，又被困阱中，人落到嘴边本应野性大发，抓咬啃噬，出口恶气。可这只虎却利用丁岩而设法保全自己，而且果真办到了，这是怎样的智慧啊！而丁岩能用言词开导老虎，与兽类沟通，果真让老虎迁往外地，还免除了自身大祸，这又是怎样的智慧啊！这真是互信互感的极致啊！啊，信诚作为一种事物，是多么神奇！

英译文

In the fourteenth year of the Zhenyuan period of the Tang dynasty， tigers ran rampant， attacking and eating people even in broad daylight. Troops had to be dispatched to maintain order and safety， and General Wang Zheng was made magistrate of the affected prefecture. Upon his arrival， he ordered the large-scale preparation of traps and other tiger-catching devices and weapons. To top it all， he declared that anyone who caught a tiger would be rewarded with ten bolts of fine silk.

Ding Yan， a veteran soldier， was expert at setting traps for wild animals. He went to the magistrate with his plan to deploy snares in the mountains and by the roads. Some days after he received official permission， a tiger fell into one of his traps， and the great animal， restricted by the contraption， had no way to display its prowess. From his safe vantage point at the edge of the pit， Ding Yan hurled curses and insults down toward his captive. Enraged， the tiger leapt and bounded， sending up thunderous roars. Hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch the tiger in its confinement. Drunk with success and a bowl of wine， Ding took every minute to show off his expertise to the crowd， but carelessly caught the hem of his robe on a tree root and toppled down into the pit. Screams instantly arose from the crowd. All were sure the tiger would tear him into shreds with its razor-sharp claws.

When they edged closer and saw what was happening below， Ding was sitting upright at the bottom of the pit， while the tiger was staring squarely at him. To get him out of danger， his friends dangled a rope from a pulley for him to fasten himself to so they could hoist him up. In this way， perhaps， Ding could have a near escape. Taking hold of the rope， Ding looped it around his hips and signaled at them to pull at the rope. Yet he was barely up a meter or so when the tiger caught the rope with its claws and pulled him back down. This was repeated three times， but other than this the tiger did not seem particularly aggressive. Ding， therefore， decided to initiate a talk with the animal. “You tigers have been rampaging so fiercely as to even break into towns and villages to kill people. Thus you are doomed to be wiped out. This is the will of Heaven. Your life is now in the balance. The crowd is only hesitating to put you to death because I am here with you after my drunken fall. If you dare to do me any harm， they would be enraged and burn you to death by throwing flaming torches at you. You’d die in the flames instantly before you had a chance to kill me. It would thus be wise for you to accept my plan， that is， let me go back to the magistrate and talk him into releasing you， on condition that you and your kind leave the town for a far-off place across the river. If you do so， I swear I will keep my word.” The tiger listened attentively， and seemed to have understood him. Ding， therefore， gave a jerk on the rope， and was hoisted up to the surface without any further trouble： the tiger simply watched and did nothing to stop him.

Back up on firm ground， Ding went to report the goings-on to the magistrate， saying， “To kill this one tiger wouldn’t put an end to the harm done by tigers. In light of this， I’ve attempted to reach an agreement with the ensnared tiger， and through it with all other tigers in our area. I beg your Excellency to release it this once， on condition that it will lead its folks to other places， thus restoring peace to the area under your jurisdiction.” The magistrate consented， and Ding returned to the tiger with the official decision. Hearing this， the tiger， though confined in the narrow pit， jumped up and whirled around with great joy， as if it had received a blessing from Heaven. Ding， therefore， began to backfill the pit from one side. When the bottom had been raised to within a couple of meters of the surface， the tiger suddenly leapt out of the pit. It bounded and roared with recovered energy， and then ran off into the distance.