As the legend goes, in the area of Qian (now Guizhou Province) there were no donkeys.

相传，黔(现贵州)一带没有驴子。

Later, a meddlesome¹ man transported one by boat from somewhere else, but he found it of no use.

后来，有个喜欢多事的人，用船从外地运来了一头驴子，可是派不了什么用场。

So he left the donkey at the foot of a mountain and let it do as it pleased.

这个人只好把它放在山下，随它去了。

A tiger in the mountain, which had never seen a donkey before, thought this huge monster was a divine beast and was rather scared.

山中，有只老虎，初次看到驴子，以为这个庞然大物是头神兽，很害怕。

Hence, the tiger hid itself in the woods and observed the donkey covertly². After a while, seeing the donkey stand there without movement,

于是，它躲在树林里偷偷地观察。过了一些时候，

the tiger came out of the woods slowly, approached it cautiously, but couldn’t figure out yet what monster it was.

它见驴子没有什么举动，就慢慢地走出树林，小合翼翼地向驴子靠近，可是还是没有弄清楚它是个什么怪物。

One day, while the tiger was observing, the donkey suddenly gave a loud cry, which frightened the tiger so much that it took to its heels, for fear that the donkey would devour³ it.

有一天，老虎正在观察它，驴子突然大声嘶叫，吓得老虎拔腿就逃，以为驴子要吃它。

Yet when turning its head, it discovered that the donkey was still at the same place, without stirring a bit.

然而回过头来，却发现驴子还在原地，没有什么动静。于是，老虎就慢慢地靠近驴子。

The tiger again slowly approached the donkey, gradually got used to its neighs and felt it wasn’t frightful⁴ at all.

渐渐地，老虎习惯了驴子的嘶叫声，觉得并没有什么可怕.

The tiger came nearer and nearer, and even tried to tease the donkey at times with its paws.

老虎越靠越近，还试着用爪子不时去戏弄驴子。

Being very much annoyed, the donkey gave the tiger a good kick. Thus, the tiger felt very pleased and said to itself:

驴子很气愤，就狠狠地踢了老虎一脚。老虎因而十分高兴，心里暗暗地说:

So that’s all the tricks it has.

“原来，这家伙只有这么一点本事。”

The tiger gave a big roar, jumped up and pounced⁵ ferociously⁶ upon the donkey, bit into its throat, devoured⁷ its flesh, and went away satisfied.

老虎大吼一声，跳起来，猛扑到驴子身上，咬断了它的喉咙，吃掉了它的肉，心满意足地离去了。