Scholar Gong was a native of Minzhou. On his way to the examinations in Xi'an, he stopped at an inn, bought some wine and drank by himself. A huge, powerfully built man came in, sat down and started talking with him. Gong raised his cup and offered him a drink, and the stranger did not refuse. He said his surname was Miao; his talk and laughter were coarse and loud. Finding him uncultured, Gong treated him with haughty coldness. When the wine ran out, he did not buy more. Miao said, “Drinking with a pinch-penny scholar is enough to bore a man to death!” He got up, went to the wine counter, and came back carrying a huge jar. Gong declined to drink, but Miao grabbed his arm and pressed him to drain his cup, gripping so hard Gong thought his arm would break. Having no choice, Gong drained several cups with him. Miao ladled wine for himself with a soup bowl and said, laughing, “I'm no good at entertaining guests. Stay or go, just as you please.” Gong immediately packed up and set off. After a few miles his horse fell sick and lay down in the road, and he had to sit by the roadside and wait. His baggage was heavy and plentiful, and he was at his wits' end when Miao came looking for him. Learning what had happened, Miao unloaded the baggage and handed it to the servant, then put his own shoulder under the horse's belly, hoisted it up, and trotted off with it more than twenty li to the inn, where he put the horse in a stall. Only some time later did Gong and his servant arrive. Gong now marvelled at him as a superhuman being and treated him handsomely, buying wine and food and eating and drinking with him. Miao said, “I'm a big eater—you couldn't fill me up. A good drink will do.” He drained a whole jar, then rose and said goodbye: “You'll need a few more days to doctor your horse. I can't wait—I'm off.” And with that he left,
and later, when Gong had finished the examinations, three or four friends invited him to climb Mount Hua, and they spread a feast on the ground. They were all feasting and laughing together when Miao suddenly arrived, a great wine vessel in his left hand and a pork knuckle in his right. He threw them on the ground and said, “I heard you gentlemen were climbing the mountain, so I've respectfully come to tag along.” Everyone stood and greeted him, and they sat down together in no particular order and drank heartily and merrily. The company wanted to compose linked verses. Miao objected, “Drinking freely is such fun—why rack your brains?” They would not listen, and set the “Golden Valley forfeit” for anyone who failed. Miao said, “Anyone whose line is no good should be punished by military law!” They laughed and said, “The crime doesn't deserve that.” Miao said, “If you're not going to execute anyone, even a soldier like me can do it.” Jin, in the seat of honour, began: “From the sheer peak I gaze, and my sight is empty to the horizon.” Miao capped it off the top of his head: “Striking the spittoon till it chips, the sword gleams red.” The next man pondered so long that Miao picked up the pot and poured for himself. After a while they took turns adding lines, which grew more and more vulgar. Miao shouted, “That's plenty! If you'd spare me, stop!” They ignored him. Unable to bear it any longer, Miao suddenly let out a dragon's roar that echoed through the valleys, then jumped up and did a lion dance, bending and leaping. With their poetic thoughts thrown into confusion, they gave up versifying and started passing the cups again.
By now they were half drunk, and the guests began reciting to each other the essays they had written in the examination hall, praising each other in turn. Miao did not want to listen and pulled Gong into a finger-guessing game. They had played many rounds, won and lost, and still the others went on reciting and praising. Miao said harshly, “I've heard plenty. That sort of essay is only fit to be read to your old woman at the head of the bed. Droning on and on in company like this is disgusting!” The others looked somewhat abashed, but they loathed his crudeness all the more, and so recited even louder. Miao, furious, dropped to the ground with a great roar and instantly turned into a tiger. He sprang on the guests, killed them, and went off roaring.
The only ones left alive were Gong and Jin. Jin passed the provincial examination that year. Three years later, passing through Huayin again, he suddenly saw Ji—one of the men who had been devoured on the mountain. Terrified, he tried to gallop away, but Ji seized his bridle and would not let him go. So Jin dismounted and asked what he wanted. Ji answered, “I am now the slave-ghost of the tiger Miao, and serving him is bitter. I must cause the death of one more scholar before someone can take my place. Three days from now a man in scholar's gown and cap is to be eaten by the tiger—but only if it happens below Green Dragon Ridge will he be the one to replace me. If on that day you invite plenty of literary men here, you'll be doing your old friend a service.” Jin did not dare argue; he promised respectfully and they parted. Back at his lodgings he brooded all night but could think of no plan, and resolved to break his promise and take whatever punishment the ghost might give. Just then a cousin of his, a scholar named Jiang, came to visit, and Jin told him of the strange encounter. Jiang was a scholar of some renown, yet a Scholar You from the same county had placed above him in the examinations, and he secretly envied him. When he heard Jin's story, he privately decided to use it to destroy You. He sent a note inviting You to climb the mountain with him, and went himself dressed in white; You had no idea what he meant by it. Halfway up the ridge, wine and dishes were laid out, and Jiang treated You with the utmost courtesy. It happened that the prefect was also climbing the ridge; his family and Jiang's were old friends, and hearing that Jiang was below, he sent someone to call him up. Jiang dared not go before him dressed in white, so he exchanged caps and robes with You. Before they had finished changing, the tiger suddenly appeared, seized Jiang in its jaws, and carried him off.
