“Tale of the Tiger Grandmother” by Huang Zhi’juan
Image: Illustration to a Different Version of the Story (see Citations)
One who addressed the topic of tigers said to me: “The county of She is situated in the deep mountains, where there are many tigers, of which the old and females ones, sometimes will take on the shape of humans so as to prey on humans. Once a mountain peasant sent his daughter with a basket of dates to visit and provide for her grandmother. The grandmother’s house was six li afar, and the girl’s child brother followed her, both aging around ten, and the two together went. At sunset the children confused the way, and met an old woman who asked: ‘To where are you two heading?’ They said: ‘To visit our grandmother’s.’ The old woman said: ‘That is me.’ The children said: ‘We remember mother saying: “My mother has seven black spots on her face.” Auntie looks different.’ The woman said: ‘Of course. I was just sieving the grain now, and am covered by dust. I will wash my face.’ So she approached the edge of a brook and picked up seven spiral shells, sticking them on her face. She went to the children and asked them: ‘Do you see the black spots now?’ They believed it, and followed her. They walked into a dark forest through a narrow path, and approached a dwelling looking like a den. The old woman said: ‘Your grandfather is gathering workmen and handpicking timber, to construct a house elsewhere. So for now I live here, not expecting you children to come. Old people are often slow in their work.’ She briskly prepared an evening meal. The meal finished, she ordered the children to sleep. The old woman said: ‘Which of you is fat. The fat one can cuddle with me and I will clasp you closely.’ The child brother said: ‘I am fat.’ So he cuddled with the old woman and slept. The girl slept at the woman’s feet. Lying down, she sensed the woman’s body to have fur, and asked: ‘What is this?’ The old woman said: ‘Your grandfather’s worn wool. The weather is cold, I wear this to sleep.’ At midnight, the girl heard chewing sounds, and asked: ‘What is that?’ The old woman said: ‘I am eating your dried dates. The night is cold and long, and my years are old so I cannot bear hunger.’ The girl said: ‘I am also hungry.’ The woman gave the girl a date, and it turned out to be an icy human finger. The girl was horrified and jumped and said: ‘I have to go to the toilet.’ The old woman said: ‘The mountain is deep and full of tigers. You might fall to a tiger’s prey. Careful do not stir.’ The girl said: ‘Grandma can bind my feet with a long rope, and pull me back in case of an emergency.’ The old woman assented, and tied a rope around the girl’s feet, herself holding its end. The girl then rose, and dragging the rope went away. Beneath the moon, the girl beheld the rope, and saw human entrails. She hurriedly untied herself, and crawled up a tree to hide. The old woman waited long, and called the girl to no response, and again called saying: ‘Child come. Listen to an old person’s words. Do not let the cold winds infect your skin. If you return sick tomorrow, your mother will say that I did not take good care of you.’ So she pulled the entrails back, and the entrails came without the girl. The old woman screamed and got up, ran out and shouted, and seemingly saw the girl on the tree, and called her down to no response. The old woman tried to frighten the girl and said: ‘There are tigers on the tree.’ The girl said: ‘Better on the tree than on your bed. You are the true tiger. How could you eat my child brother?’ The old woman was furious and left. In no time day broke, and a man shouldering a pole with baskets hanging from each end came by. The girl cried: ‘Help me! There are tigers!’ The man took and hung the girl’s own clothes on the tree, and carried her quickly away. In an instant the old woman came back with two tigers, and pointed to the tree and said: ‘A human.’ The tigers bent and broke the tree and found clothes. Thinking the old woman to be fooling them, they were enraged, and together bellowed and devoured the old woman and left.” I Master Huang say: “To trouble the world by deception and deceit, is eventually self-defeating. If you are yet defeated, you will be at some point. When humans meet tigers, the old woman’s case is a cautionary tale.”