Original Text
Xiang Gao, styled Chudan, was a native of Taiyuan. He had the deepest affection for his half-brother Xiang Sheng. Xiang Sheng was intimate with a courtesan named Bosi, and the two had secretly pledged marriage, but the madam demanded an exorbitant price, so the betrothal could not be fulfilled. Just then, the madam planned to reform and was willing to send Bosi away first. There was a young master Zhuang, who had long admired Bosi and wished to redeem her as his concubine. Bosi said to the madam, "Since we both wish to escape this sea of suffering, it is like leaving hell to ascend to heaven. If I am to become a concubine, it differs little from being a courtesan. If you are willing to follow my wish, I would rather marry Mr. Xiang." The madam agreed and conveyed Bosi's intention to Xiang Sheng. At that time, Xiang Sheng's wife had died and he had not yet remarried; upon hearing this, he was overjoyed and used all his wealth to betroth Bosi, bringing her home as his wife. When young master Zhuang heard of this, he was enraged that Xiang Sheng had taken his beloved, and when they happened to meet on the road, he heaped abuse on Xiang Sheng. Xiang Sheng refused to submit, so Zhuang ordered his men to beat him viciously with short clubs, leaving him nearly dead before departing. When Xiang Gao heard and rushed to see, his brother had already died. Overwhelmed with grief and fury, he wrote a plaint and went to the prefectural city to file a lawsuit. Young master Zhuang bribed heavily, so that Xiang Gao's cause could not be redressed. Xiang Gao's pent-up anger accumulated in his heart, with no outlet for his grievance, and he resolved to ambush and assassinate young master Zhuang. Every day, he concealed a sharp blade in his bosom and lurked in the grass by the mountain path. As time passed, his scheme gradually leaked out. Young master Zhuang learned of his intent and, whenever he went out, took strict precautions. He heard that in Fenzhou there was a man named Jiao Tong, who was fierce and skilled in archery, so he hired him at a heavy price as a bodyguard. Xiang Gao was at his wit's end, yet he still lay in wait for young master Zhuang every day.
One day, just as Xiang Gao had lain in ambush, a sudden torrential rain descended, drenching him from head to foot, and he shivered violently with cold. Then a fierce gale swept across the sky, followed by a hailstorm. Suddenly, Xiang Gao no longer felt any pain or itching on his body. On the mountain ridge there was a temple to the mountain god, and he struggled to his feet and hastened toward it. Upon entering the temple, he saw a Taoist priest he recognized inside. Previously, this priest had begged for alms in the village, and Xiang Gao had always given him food, so the priest knew him. Seeing Xiang Gao's clothes soaked through, the priest handed him a cloth robe, saying, "Put this on for now." Xiang Gao changed into the robe, crouched on the ground like a dog enduring the cold, and looked at himself; suddenly, a coat of fur grew over his body, and he had transformed into a tiger. When he looked up, the priest was no longer in the temple. His heart was filled with shock and anger. But then he thought: to capture his enemy and devour his flesh—this plan was also excellent. So he descended the mountain and lay in wait at his old spot, where he saw his own corpse lying in the grass. Only then did he realize that his former body had died, yet he still feared that crows or eagles might devour it, so he constantly paced back and forth to guard it. After a day had passed, Young Master Zhuang happened to pass by that place. The tiger leaped out suddenly, knocked him from his horse, bit off his head, and swallowed it. Jiao Tong turned his horse and shot an arrow, striking the tiger in the belly. The tiger fell to the ground with a thud and died. Xiang Gao lay among the brambles, dazed as if waking from a dream. After another night, he could finally walk, and he returned home listlessly. His family, alarmed that he had not come home for several nights, was astonished to see him and joyfully pressed him with questions. Xiang Gao only lay down, sluggish and barely able to speak. Soon, hearing of Young Master Zhuang's death, his family rushed to his bedside to tell him, celebrating the event. Then Xiang Gao spoke for himself, saying, "The tiger was me!" And he recounted his strange experience. This story soon spread far and wide. Young Master Zhuang's son, grieving his father's tragic death, heard of this and bitterly hated Xiang Gao, so he brought a lawsuit against him to the authorities. The officials deemed the matter too bizarre and lacking evidence, so they dismissed the case.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: When a brave man fulfills his noble aspirations, he must inevitably fail to return alive—this has been a matter of grievous lament and regret for a thousand years. By using Jiao Tong's hand to slay the tiger and thereby revive Xiang Gao, the celestial arts are truly wondrous! Yet under heaven, there are too many deeds that make one's hair stand on end. How I wish that those who harbor grievances and bear injustice could remain human and yet never exact revenge, and that I could hate to see them temporarily transformed into tigers.
Commentary
The fourth chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber, titled 'The Ill-Fated Girl Meets an Ill-Fated Man, and the Gourd Monk Judges a Gourd Case,' bears a striking resemblance to the content of this tale. In Dream of the Red Chamber, the unjust case concludes with Jia Yucun 'bending the law to serve his private ends and rashly judging the case,' whereas this story ends with the victim's younger brother, Xiang Gao, transforming into a tiger and devouring the enemy. This divergence in handling the same narrative motif reflects the contrast between the realist writer Cao Xueqin and the romantic writer Pu Songling.
Although Pu Songling allowed the weak to take revenge through romantic imagination, his depiction of real life was meticulous. The story recounts how Xiang Gao failed to file a lawsuit and attempted assassination but found no means to succeed, ultimately transforming into a tiger to slay his enemy: "The tiger burst forth, leaping from the thicket onto the horse, seized the man by the head, and devoured him." The tiger was swift and fierce, the killing done with satisfying thoroughness, and the narrative tone matched this with crisp clarity. After the tiger was struck by an arrow and "fell dead on the spot," the author wrote that Xiang Gao "among the tangled brambles, seemed to wake as from a dream; after another night, he could finally walk, and returned home listlessly. His family, alarmed by his absence for several nights, were astonished to see him and joyfully offered their condolences. Xiang Gao merely lay down, unable to speak with difficulty." The tone then became lingering and dazed, not only vividly portraying the mental state of one just recovering from a long illness but also enhancing the story's sense of reality and authenticity.