Ghost with a Human Body and a Cow's Head,
and Ghost with a Human Body and a Horse's Head(牛頭馬面)
At the end of the Ming Dynasty in China,
there was a famous writer called (Feng Menglong).
He wrote a collection of short stories.
This novel reflects the thoughts, feelings
and values of ordinary people at that time.
There is a story in this book that is set
in the Yuan Dynasty.
There was a scholar named (Humudi) who got
drunk one night and fell asleep on his bed.
In the middle of the night, he suddenly
felt someone pushing him.
He reluctantly opened his eyes and saw two
men in black standing next to his bed. The two men in black took him away by
force.
A few hours later he was taken to the front
of a palace. He found that the place he was standing in was not the world he
lived in. He had arrived in the Underworld. He was standing in front of the
palace of the king of the underground world. He was very afraid in his heart.
The two men in black who were threatening
him took him into the palace, and about ten minutes later they entered a large
hall.
At the highest point of the hall was a man.
He was wearing very fine clothes and a tall hat. There was no smile on his
face, and he exuded a majestic aura.
(Hu Mudi) thought.
This man must be the king of the
underworld.
Hu Mudi also saw six people standing on
either side of the chair where the king was sitting. These 12 people were
wearing dark green clothes and black shoes. These 12 people stood with a very
respectful attitude and held many documents in their hands.
Hu Mudi turned his head and looked around.
He saw that there were at least 100 ghosts standing on each side of the hall.
These ghosts had bull heads and human bodies, and some had horse heads and
human bodies. These ghosts were dressed in soldiers' clothes and held sharp
weapons in their hands. These ghosts looked very ferocious.
Two men in black led Hu Mudi to the centre
of the hall. Hu Mudi stood nervously and looked up at the king.
The king stared at Hu Mudi's face for about
two minutes before he spoke.
The king said.
Are you Hu Mudi?
Hu Mudi replied.
I am Hu Mudi, no doubt, then why did you
order your men to bring me here?
The literal translation of this idiom is a
ghost with a cow's head and a human body, and a ghost with a horse's head and a
human body.
This idiom is used to describe bad guys who
have vicious looks.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
What ghost stories do you have in your
country? What ghost stories have you heard that have frightened you?
I hope this story can give you some new insights.
牛頭馬面(Ghost with a Human Body and a Cow's
Head, and Ghost with a Human Body and a Horse's Head)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的文學家，他的名字叫做(馮夢龍)。
他寫過一本短篇小說集。
這本小說反映了當時的老百姓的思想和感情和價值觀。
這本書中有一個故事，故事的背景在元王朝。
有一個名字叫做(胡母迪)的學者，有一天晚上他喝醉了之後就睡在他的床上。
到了半夜，他突然感覺有人推他。
他勉強地睜開眼睛，他看到他的床邊站著兩個穿著黑色衣服的人，這兩個人穿著黑色衣服的人強行脅迫帶走他。
當幾個小時候他被帶到了一座宮殿的前面時，他發現他已經所站著的這個地方並不是他所活著的那個世界，他已經到了地下的世界，他就站在地下世界的國王的宮殿前，他的內心感到很恐懼。
這兩個脅迫他的黑色的衣服的人帶著他走入了這座宮殿內，大概十分鐘後他們走進了一個大殿內。
大殿內的最高處坐著一個人，這個人穿著非常華麗衣服與戴著一個高高的帽子，他的臉上沒有笑容，他散發出威嚴的氣場。
(胡母迪)心想。
這個人一定就是地下世界的國王了。
胡母迪又看到國王坐著的椅子的左前方與右前方各站著六個人，這12個人的穿著深綠色的衣服與黑色的鞋子，這12個人態度很恭敬的站立著，他們的手上拿很多的文件。
胡母迪轉頭左右看了一下，他看到這座大廳的兩邊各自至少站了100個鬼，這些牛頭人身的鬼與馬頭人身的鬼，這些鬼穿著士兵的衣服手上拿著尖銳的武器，這些鬼看起來都常的凶惡。
兩個穿著黑色衣服的人帶著胡母迪走到這個大廳的正中間，胡母迪緊張地站著仰頭看著國王。
國王盯著胡母迪的臉看了大概兩分鐘後才說話。
國王說。
你就是胡母迪嗎?
胡母迪回答。
我是胡母迪沒有錯，你為何命令你的手下帶我到這裡呢?
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是牛頭人身的鬼與馬頭人身的鬼。
這句成語被用來形容那些長相很兇惡的壞人。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你的國家中有甚麼關於鬼怪的傳說呢?你聽過那些令你覺得恐懼的鬼故事呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為喻世名言-32卷-游酆都胡母迪吟詩
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%96%BB%E4%B8%96%E6%98%8E%E8%A8%80/%E7%AC%AC32%E5%8D%B7