slaughtering every rooster he could find. He chopped off their heads and
wore a string of dried rooster feet around his neck.
Eventually, Chen came to a temple in the middle of a vast field. A monk
beckoned him closer and bade him enter. Although Chen thought only to
stop for water, he did as the monk requested. Finally, he thought, someone
will listen to the warning the gods have sent.
Chen walked through gilt halls strewn with hardened kernels of corn.
Torches flickered along the wall, illuminating ancient drawings of men and
roosters living together in harmony. What was this place? Why hadn't he
found it sooner?
Though blood still dripped from his silver-tipped axe—it had dripped
for months now—Chen proceeded deeper into the temple. At last, he came
to a beautiful dark-haired woman wearing a flowing red robe. She sat on a
golden throne carved like a rooster about to crow, its glorious comb
reaching up towards the heavens. Chen stood before her.
"I have dreamed of a giant rooster," he said. "It will come and destroy
us all."
The woman nodded. "The dream was indeed a portent," she said, "and
the Great Rooster will soon descend upon us to wreak his vengeance. Your
war against his people has doomed us all. The gods sent you a warning that
you did not heed."
Chen opened his mouth to say something, anything, but it was too late.
Behind the priestess, the golden rooster had opened its stone-hard beak and
begun to crow.
Chó
Vì năm ấy là năm Tuất, và vì Hsien đã quá chán chường với cái thân thể
già nua của mình, vào hôm Chủ Nhật gã bèn xuống phiên chợ Thịt và mua
cho mình một tấm thân nặng bốn mươi cân của một con chó.
Cuộc phẫu thuật thật đơn giản. Hồn của Hsien được rút ra và bỏ vào
một chiếc hộp sơn mài nhỏ với hai chiếc đũa thò ra ngoài. Ðôi đũa được
cắm lên phía trên cổ của con chó giống như cắm nút. Một chiếc vòng cổ
