Mouse vs Cat in Chinese Literature Read online

  in front of Mount Cupstand that blocked the entrance of the hole from view.

  With his sharp eyes and quick feet, Sharphead crawled out of the hole and

  fled by way of the back side of Vat City.

  When he had run one pace he widely gazed forward,

  When he had run two paces he listened behind him.

  He feared he might disturb the cats and wake them up,

  And he was also afraid that someone might see him.

  Scurrying away he jumped across Gate Lintel Mountain,

  And only then realized he fled the hole of problems.

  As fast as he could he ran to the hole of Old Mouse,

  And upon entering, he greeted him with tearful eyes.

  He cried out, “Dear master, things have gone wrong:

  Below Wokstand Cliff we encountered the enemy!

  All members of the bride-fetching party lost their lives;

  The young master was killed and he, too, lost his life.

  Alas, the matchmakers died in a gruesome manner,

  The sedan chair carriers and riders: none survived!

  If it hadn’t been for my, Sharphead’s, fast running,

  You would have had none today to bring this tiding.”

  When Old Mouse heard him speak these few lines,

  He spat out bright-red blood and then fainted away.

  Mother Mouse that same instant lost consciousness,

  She collapsed and fell down then and there in the dust.

  Yellow Marten ran off and returned to his own house,

  Not a trace could be found of both Sable and Ermine.

  Hopping Rabbit first helped himself to three cups,

  And Weed Hare forced himself to down five cups.

  They all of them returned each to his own house,

  And only Molehill stayed behind to save their lives.

  He pinched their lips and their nose, loudly called out,

  And also spat cold water right into both their faces.

  When Old Mouse and his wife had come back to life,

  They cursed Wildcat for being bereft of all feeling,

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  “There never existed any feud between our families,

  So why did you kill all those lives without any cause?

  This grudge and this enmity are as big as high heaven:

  If I do not exact revenge, I cannot be called a man!”

  The story tells that the bosom of Old Mouse was filled with hatred, and

  with each word and every sentence he repeated he wanted to take revenge.

  That very night he went to the house of Weed Hare to discuss this: “We

  mice are a well-established official family. Our name is listed among the

  twenty-four lunar mansions, and we are honored as the first of the twelve

  birth-year images. We have lived here for many years, but those cats only

  came later and settled here as foreigners. They don’t have any land here

  or graves, but in earlier years we allowed them to live here as guests. But these days they abuse people arbitrarily. How can we let them go off scot-free? You and I belong originally to the same family, so why don’t you

  help me out in this matter? Let’s defeat these bandit cats together to

  display the mighty power of us rodents!” Weed Hare replied, “That is

  exactly my opinion! Let me ask Hopping Rabbit over so we can discuss

  this together.”

  The bosom of Old Mouse was filled with a fierce hatred;

  Overcome by rage he thought of this both day and night.

  “Those bandit cats pride themselves on their courage,

  So they arbitrarily abuse all others, always bully people!

  They look down on us rodents as being meek and weak—

  They don’t know that our house, too, has strong fighters!”

  When Weed Hare heard these words, he said, “Indeed!

  Let me invite Hopping Rabbit so we can act all together.

  Let’s bring together the nine branches of our family:

  Let us rodents enlist our men so we can go to war!”

  Now tell how Weed Hare arrived at the gate of Hopping Rabbit and called

  on him. When Hopping Rabbit had come outside, he invited him in and

  offered him the guest seat. After he had served him wine and offered some

  tea, he asked, “My dear brother, what business brings you here?” Weed Hare

  informed him of the request for help. Hopping Rabbit was so enraged that

  he roared like the thunder and repeatedly declared his participation, saying he would not show any fear! When Weed Hare reported this to Old Mouse,

  the latter was filled with joy.

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  Old Mouse went home and called out to his wife,

  “The way this is going today really pleases me well.

  I will set up my battle array on the Southern Slope

  With the aid of Weed Hare and Hopping Rabbit.”

  All the youngsters of the tribe called to each other

  That they wanted to wage a battle against the cats.

  Fat Mouse volunteered to serve in the front line,

  Slim Mouse insisted on serving as the vanguard.

  Sharphead transported grain without any slacking,

  Weed Hare set up his camp and waited in ambush.

  Hopping Rabbit inspected the ranks and patrolled,

  Granarymover protected the grain and the fodder.

  These massed mouse soldiers were filled with rage;

  Each and every mouse soldier showed his might.

  The seven- li command banner hung in the army;

  The eight great flags preceded the encampment.

  Nine layers of swords and spears arranged blades;

  The ten seating towers dominated the battalions.

  Once Old Mouse had transmitted all his orders,

  He took his seat in the center, holding his flag.

  He set out a single-stroke long-snake battle line

  Like the Dashing King when attacking Beijing.38

  The troops, old and young, took up their posts;

  Upon three cannon shots, they then made camp.

  The story tells that after Old Mouse had transmitted his orders, they made

  camp after the cannon had fired three times. After they had completed large defense works, he instructed them, “You soldiers, old and young, bury your

  pots and prepare your food, because tomorrow we will march out. In days

  gone by, I remember, Duke Huan of Qi was honest and not wily, while Duke

  Wen of Jin was wily but not honest.39 Let us imitate Duke Huan of Qi and

  conduct our troops in a noble and honest manner, unlike what happened ear-

  lier.” So he composed a declaration of war to be sent to the bandit cats. The declaration of war he wrote read as follows,

  The lord of the twelve birth-year images from Foot of the Wall District

  in Earth Prefecture

  To the tiger general of Kangton, commander in chief Cat

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  Since ancient times there never existed any enmity or hatred
between our

  family and yours, so what was your reason to wound and kill all members

  of our bride-fetching party without any cause? As commander, I will now

  lead my troops against you. If you know to be ashamed and repent, you

  should immediately submit yourself and ask for punishment so you may

  escape ending up as beheaded ghosts. If you say only half the word “No,” I

  will kill you—not even one of your chickens or dogs will survive! Consider

  this carefully once this letter has arrived, so you will feel no regret later.

  He dispatched three rats to deliver the letter to Kangton.

  When Wildcat saw this letter, he exploded in a rage,

  And he cursed the bandit mouse as way too reckless,

  “You don’t keep to your station, you deserve to die:

  You’re a pheasant that wants to fight with a phoenix.”

  The cat tore that declaration of war to little shreds

  And immediately summoned his brothers together.

  The cat officers from everywhere all soon arrived,

  Shouting, “Dear brother cat, why did you call on us?”

  Once Wildcat saw them, his heart was filled with joy,

  And he loudly shouted, “Dear brothers, now listen!

  The mice today have delivered a declaration of war,

  Because they want to fight it out with us, the cats.

  The situation now cannot be compared to earlier days,

  Each of you, everyone will have to rouse his might.

  Whether they are house thieves or field bandits,

  We definitely have to eat and annihilate all mice.

  Brother Yellow, you will sit here in the central tent,

  Holding the flag of command to set out the troops.

  I’ll serve as the vanguard and fight in the front line;

  You all will follow and serve as supporting armies.

  Be aware the bandit mice will hide under tiles and earth,

  So guard the strategic places, don’t let them flee.

  We’ll set out an Eight-Trigrams Peach-Blossom formation—

  Let’s see whether these mice will dare give battle!”40

  When Brother Yellow had been given the central command,

  He roared three times and selected his great camp.

  This one marching camp was full eight miles long,

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  The three battalions of troops were eager to fight.

  An auspicious ether wafted above the five battle flags;

  The marching camps on four sides were red in the sun.

  Disposed in the order metal, wood, water, fire, and earth,

  The twenty-eight lunar mansions connected to the stars.

  Six stars of the Southern Dipper, seven of the Northern;

  Celestial Nets and Earthly Killers arranged in two rows.41

  The beast-faced golden bells cast their rays of light,

  Robbing the glare of the sun, outdoing the clear moon.

  When the golden crow sank in the west, the sun in the sea,42

  They buried their pots, cooked their food, and made camp.

  The story tells that when the cats had set out their troops, they gave

  order to make camp. The soldiers old and young were ordered to bury

  their pots and cook their food. When everything had been settled, they

  were to nourish their spirit and wait for the mice. The next day at early

  dawn they heard three cannon shots being fired in the camp of the mice.

  All together they stormed forward and took up their position. One only

  heard a cacophony of sounds and saw the aura of killing rise up into the

  air, covering the heaven and blocking the sun—quite a frightening sight!

  Those who grabbed, grabbed; those who bit, bit; these who shouted,

  shouted; and those who grunted, grunted. The dead were lying criss-

  cross on the field, and the flowing blood turned into rivers. This was

  some battle!

  Wildcat grabbed the commander of the mice,

  The other cats wildly arrested the mice troops.

  Tigerstripes grabbed the rodents’ generalissimo,

  Scaring Hopping Rabbit into running up a hill.

  Weed Hare hid himself in some mountain grotto,

  By day and night he stayed in hiding on the hill.

  If one watched those mice, it was quite painful,

  Because the corpses could not be properly buried.

  Those who survived didn’t dare return back home,

  The corpses of mice formed heaps, filled the ditches.

  Wildcat resembled a wolf attacking a flock of sheep,

  Wildcat resembled a farmer who is hoeing his field.

  Old Mouse resembled a man who’s delivering food;

  The cats kept on eating till their mouths were all red

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  And their sated bellies were bloated like big drums.

  On the fourteenth of the First they halted the fight:

  They wanted to watch the lanterns of the fifteenth.43

  They thought they’d eaten them all, old and young,

  But who knew that one little mouse still remained!

  The story tells that Sharphead fled by way of the earth and on his return

  informed Mother Mouse, “A disaster! Today we again were defeated!” Mother

  Mouse asked, “What about your daddy?” and Sharphead replied, “He was

  eaten by Wildcat.” When Mother Mouse heard these words, she cried out in

  pain and fell backward on her bed, having lost all consciousness. Sharphead supported her in order to revive her, but only after quite a while did she come by. Filled with rage, she wept in a heartrending way.

  The tears coursed down the face of Mother Mouse:

  First she cried out to her man, next to Old Heaven.

  “Ever since the day you brought me home as bride,

  Your love and affection has been like mountain and sea.

  You exerted your mind and strength for half a century,

  Rising early, slaving till late for a number of decades.

  You made sure that we never lacked firewood or rice,

  You made sure that I never suffered hunger or cold.

  By the light of the stars and moon you suffered greatly,

  Always in fear and trepidation—how it hurts the heart!

  Advanced in years I lost my son, such a major disaster,

  It was as if a steel knife was piercing my heart and liver.

  Now today your life has left for the realm of shade,

  You leave me here behind in a most piteous manner.

  I weep once for my husband, who died way too young,

  And then I cry out to blind Heaven that has no eyes.

  Husband and wife, we never committed crime or sin,

  So why has my family gone off to the Yellow Springs?

  If I ponder that I now have no way left that I may go,

  I weep till my guts are cut and my tears won’t dry.

  If I consider the place where you now have gone,

  My eyes continue to involuntarily shed their tears.

  If I would want to marry again with some other man,

  There is no hope because I am too old and worn out.”

  She cried out to August Heaven for murdering her man,

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  “You left me in a position where I’ve nowhere to go!

  They all have died and have gone to the Nine Springs,

  And I can’t live under the same heaven with this cat.”

  Mother Mouse wept till it seemed as if she were drunk

  And her soul flew off to that dark world of shade,

  “Make sure to wait for me there in the underworld,

  On no account already cross the Ghost Gate Pass!”

  Now tell that Mother Mouse wept in a truly most piteous manner. Consid-

  ering all possibilities, she saw no way to survive, so she heaved a heavy sigh and committed suicide by hanging herself. Her soul soon had arrived

  at Ghost Gate Pass, where she saw her husband the mouse, who was about

  to cross the pass. She cried out, “My husband!” When her husband the

  mouse looked back to have a look, he saw that it was his wife. Embracing

  each other, they loudly wept. Then he asked her, “How did you get here?”

  Mother Mouse said, “I died because of self-pity.” Her husband the mouse

  told her, “I could not gain a victory against the cats. Now you have died too, we had better go to King Yama and there accuse the cat in order to exact

  revenge. We’re bound to be victorious.” Mother Mouse replied, “Yes, that is the right thing to do.” After husband and wife had crossed the Ghost Gate

  Pass, they reached the Office of Speedy Retribution. After they had greeted the responsible official and kowtowed to him, they informed him that they

  wanted him to write a statement in order to lodge an accusation against

  the cat, and they told him what had happened in great detail, from the very beginning. When they had handed him ten ounces of silver, the responsible

  official wrote out the statement, reading,

  The person submitting this statement, Old Mouse, is a resident of the