"Ði Suyee," em gái cô bảo, "hãy chạy vào rừng với em."
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Dịch từ nguyên tác Anh văn, “Tiger”, trong Tales of the Chinese
Zodiac, của Jenn Reese.
Tiger
When she was five, Suyee wished for a sister, and in the Year of the
Tiger, her wish was granted. The baby was born healthy save for one thing:
it wouldn't open its eyes. Not after a week. Not after a month. Not after a
year, or two years, or even five years.
Suyee and her mother and her sister traveled to the wide ocean and
back seeking advice about the girl's eyes. Everyone suggested something
different.
Old man Ko tried to pry her eyes open with rounded sticks dipped in
eagle's blood, but it didn't work. One town's wisewoman suggested they
surround the girl with beauty to tempt her eyes to open. Suyee and her
mother tried, but as they were not very wealthy, their small pile of beauty
wasn't enough. A doctor from a big city wanted to cut the girl's eyelids
away, but Suyee's mother refused.
One day, Suyee was wandering through the forest collecting funny rocks
when she encountered a tiger. Although the creature was huge and
dangerous-looking, the tips of its ears were grey and its stripes had begun
to fade. Just one large fang remained in its mouth.
"You're a tiger," Suyee said. "Are you going to eat me?"
