【导读】

这是一个印度民间故事。俄罗斯形式主义学者弗拉基米尔·普洛普曾说：“在大多数语言中，‘故事’都是‘谎言’和‘假话’的近义词。”这个故事也不例外，里面有会说话的动物，有违背常识的收养关系，也有惹人发笑的智胜情节。可是，荒谬之中也映射出人类社会处理矛盾的理性方式：即便在丛林法则之下，弱者和强者也有权寻求公正的审判。西方民间故事中，猫头鹰和狐狸通常是智慧和法官的化身，本故事中承担这一角色的是一只蝙蝠，它以其人之道还治其人之身，为丛林里的审判画下一个圆满的句号。

There was a wild sow in the jungles of Tripura1. She lived happily with her children. One day， while she was searching for food for her children in the jungle， she noticed a weeping tiger cub near a bush. Finding no trace of the cub’s mother， she thought that the tigress might have been killed by the hunters. The mother pig took pity on the cub and thought， “How can I leave this orphan cub in such a condition？ After all， I am a mother. I shall take the cub with me and rear him up2.”

特里普拉邦的丛林里，野猪妈妈和她的孩子们幸福地生活在一起。一天，她在丛林里为孩子们觅食时，发现灌木丛边有只哀嚎的虎崽。四周看不到虎妈的踪迹，她想，虎妈也许已被猎人射杀了。野猪妈妈不禁心生怜悯，暗自思忖：“把这个没了娘的小崽丢在这么个地方怎么能成？毕竟我也是当娘的。我还是把他带回去好好养大吧。”

The mother pig began to look after the cub along with her children as best as possible. Thus the tiger cub became a member of the pig family. He and the piglets used to play together， roam together and sleep together. The days passed on.

野猪妈妈开始尽心抚养虎崽，视他如己出。虎崽由此成了野猪家的一员。他和猪崽们常常一起嬉戏，一起闲荡，一起睡觉。日子就这么一天天过去。

One day， the mother pig died. The cub was， by then， a full-grown tiger and the piglets were not little at all but big， fat pigs. By nature， a tiger lives on flesh. A deep desire for eating flesh gradually developed in the tiger. He was tempted to devour the flesh of the pigs. Direct attack could earn a bad name as they had grown up together. Therefore， he chalked out3 a plan.

一日，野猪妈妈去世了。此时，虎崽已长成了大老虎，猪崽们也不小了，个个又大又肥。老虎天性吃肉。强烈的食肉欲望逐渐在老虎心头萌发。