中國成語寓言故事：苛政猛于虎

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

　　古代，在群山環(huán)抱的泰山腳下，常常聽到老虎吃人的事情。

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

　　有一天，孔子帶著弟子路過泰山。弟子們一邊走，一邊談?wù)撝�所見所聞�?/p>

　　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:

　　忽然，聽到遠(yuǎn)處傳來哭聲。大家便走了過去，一看原來是一個(gè)年輕的婦女，頭上包著白色的頭巾，身上穿著白布衣褲，腳上套著白布鞋襪，正跪在一座新墳前面痛哭。弟子們不知如何是好，孔子叫弟子上前詢問:

　　"Who has died? Why are you weeping in such sorrow?"

　　“死了誰?你為什么哭得這么傷心?”

　　The woman raised her head, wiped her red and swollen eyes, sobbed and answered intermittently:

　　婦女抬起頭來，擦著紅腫的眼睛，抽泣著斷斷續(xù)續(xù)地回答:

　　"In the past, my father-in-law was devoured by a tiger. Later, my husband was devoured by a tiger too. Now my son has also been bitten to death by a tiger."

　　“從前，我的公公被老虎吃掉了。后來，我的丈夫又被老虎吃掉了。如今，我的兒子也被老虎咬死了。”

　　Confucius' disciple asked worriedly:

　　孔子的弟子著急地問道:

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

　　“老虎傷害了你家三代人的性命，你為什么不早點(diǎn)兒離開這里，搬到別處去呢?”

　　The woman sobbed, saying:

　　婦女哭著說:

　　"There are tigers here, but there are no exorbitant taxes, levies or heavy corvee here!" When Confucius heard this, he turned to his disciples and said:

　　“這里有老虎，但是沒有苛捐雜稅和繁重的搖役啊!孔子聽到這兒，回過頭來，對(duì)弟子們說:

　　"Remember, tigers devour people, but tyranny is fiercer than tigers!"

　　“你們記住，老虎吃人，可是苛政比老虎還要兇猛啊!”