dz_v06

Title: ”Inferior Horse Hurts People” 駑馬傷人
Year: 1885 Volume: 6 Page Number: 6

Caption Translation: Northwest of Shanghai is Xujiahui, where Temple Jing’an is located. Every year on the eighth day of the fourth month, the temple’s monks hold a celebration of the Buddha’s Birthday Festival with grandiose platforms for Buddhist preaching. Numberless men and women come to pay their respect to the Buddha by burning incense. That day this year, the sky was cloudless and the air clear. Visitors were like a school of fish. Beautiful carriages with decorations raced with each other on the road. In the afternoon, a four-wheel guest carriage came, the driver snapping his whip with complacency. Half a li from the temple, the horse suddenly stampeded, rushing crazily. In front of that carriage was a small passenger cart with two maid servants, moving forward slowly.

The driver of the carriage was not good at maneuvering. He hurried to rein the horse, but the horse unexpectedly charged wildly, overthrew the cart and injured a woman in the neck. It then bumped into two rickshaws and hurt one of the guests in the hand, breaking all the five fingers. The other suffered injury from waist to feet. On-lookers soon walled up in a hubbub of voices. The first driver whipped hard on the horse and quickly flew away. Policemen carried the injured to the hospital to be treated, and the two rickshaw guests went back home in total discomposure. Alas! Youngsters take pride in horse racing. I hope they can learn a lesson from this.

Translator: Guojun (Alec) Wong

滬城西北為徐家匯，其地有靜安寺，每於四月八日寺僧為浴佛之會，大開壇場，凡男婦之禮佛而來者不可勝計。本年於進香日天朗氣清，遊人如織，雕輪繡轂，絡繹爭馳。午後有客駕四輪馬車一乘，意氣洋洋，揮鞭前進，離寺門半里許，馬忽驚逸，其勢狂奔道旁。適有傭婦輿一村婢同坐羊角小車，其聲軋軋然。在前馬夫不善駕馭，急欲勒住馬韁，不料馬四蹄亂蹴，掀倒傭婦小車，碾傷該婦之頸，又撞翻東洋車二輛，車中坐客二人，甲傷左手，五指俱裂，乙則自腰及足並有傷痕，一時人聲鼎沸，觀者如堵牆。該馬夫策馬飛駛而逸，經巡捕將受傷者送至醫館調製，甲乙二客狼狽回家。嗌。少年子弟馳騁為樂者尚其鑒諸。

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