斫蟒

胡田村有个姓胡的人，兄弟二人采樵，深入幽谷。遇到巨蟒，哥哥在前被吞下，弟弟起初惊骇要逃，见哥哥被咬，就愤怒地举起樵斧砍蟒首。蟒首受伤而吞食不止。然而头虽然已没进去，幸好卡在肩际不能下去。弟弟急切到极点没有办法，就两手握住哥哥的脚用力与蟒争夺，竟把哥哥拽了出来。蟒也负痛离去。看哥哥，鼻耳都化了，奄奄一息快断气。背着走，路上歇了十几次才到家。医治休养半年才愈。至今面目都是瘢痕，鼻耳只剩孔了。唉！农人当中竟有这样敬爱兄长的弟弟啊！有人说：“蟒不害人，是德行道义所感化。”确实如此！

A man surnamed Hu of Hutiang Village had a younger brother; the two went to cut firewood, going deep into a secluded valley. They met a huge python. The elder brother, being foremost, was swallowed; the younger, though at first startled and ready to flee, saw his brother bitten, and in a fury raised his woodcutter's axe and struck at the python's head. The head was wounded yet still swallowed on. The head had gone in, but luckily was stopped at the shoulders and could not go further. The younger brother, frantic and at his wits' end, seized his brother's feet with both hands and pulled with all his might against the python, and actually dragged his brother out. The python, in pain, went away. Looking at his brother, his nose and ears had all melted away, and he was gasping on the verge of death. He carried him on his back, resting a dozen times on the way before he reached home. It was half a year of care and medicine before he recovered. To this day his face is all scarred, and his nose and ears are nothing but holes. Alas! Among peasants there are such devoted younger brothers! Some say, "The python did not harm him because it was moved by his virtue." So indeed it seems!