43. POISON WANG LOST HIS TONGUE
Wang was his name, Poison was his nickname. He lived in Henglin outside Changzhou, Jiangsu. Near Henglin were several acres of reeds. A lot of sparrows lived there. Poison Wang raised a vicious eagle, and trained it very carefully. When he was ready, he made a very big net. He took it to the reed patch. He loosed his eagle, which flew back and forth above the reeds. When the sparrows saw their natural enemy, they flew back and forth in panic, and a lot of them blundered into Poison's net. Of course you can't keep a trapped sparrow long. It will commit suicide by biting off its own tongue rather than live in a cage. But Poison Wang didn't want to raise them in a cage. He crushed their heads with a big rock. Then he took their bodies to the market to sell as meat. This is how he made his living.He was very proud of this trick.
But why was his nickname Poison? Because he was vicious and cruel. He always wanted to have his own way. He never listened to reason. If anybody accidentally touched his sparrow net, Poison Wang would curse him with all the terrible, nasty names and words he could think of. He would keep cursing that person all day long. So everybody around knew him, and they detested him, too
He finally came down with some strange disease that the doctors had never seen. His whole body ached. He rolled this way and that on his bed. He groaned and moaned and begged the doctors to help, but they couldn't figure out how to cure him. His high-handed old bullying ways were gone. His face was pinched from pain. Whenever anyone came, he whimpered and whined, saying, "Have mercy on me! Help me, please!" But nobody knew what to to. His neighbors said he looked and sounded just like a trapped sparrow begging for its life.
After several days, Poison Wang was in such agony that he chewed off his own tongue and died. He died a horrible death because he had lived a horrible life.
43. 失去舌头的王毒药
有一个人，姓王，毒药是他的外号。他住在江苏省常州外的恒岭这个地方。恒岭附近有几亩芦苇地。那里有许多麻雀。王毒药养了一只凶恶的老鹰，还细心培 训。之后，他织了一张很大的网。他把网带到芦苇地里。他放出鹰，鹰就在芦苇地上空盘旋。当麻雀看到它们的天敌时，它们慌慌张张地飞散，许多就撞到了王毒药 的网里。你无法长久地养活一只麻雀，因为它宁可咬舌自尽也不愿意住在笼子里。但是王毒药并不想养它们。他用一块大石头砸麻雀的头，然后把它们带到市场上卖 给人吃。他以此为生，还很为自己的伎俩自豪。
他为什么被叫做毒药呢？因为他残忍歹毒。总是为所欲为，从不听别人的劝告。如果有人不小心碰到他的网，王毒药也会用他能想到的最恶毒下流的话来咒骂人家。他能从早骂到晚。所以周围的人都知道他，厌恶他。
他最后得了一种所有医生都闻所未闻的病。他全身都疼。在床上翻滚。他呻吟哀号，乞求医生救救他，但是医生们都束手无策。他往日的威风都没了，他的脸也 因为痛苦而扭曲。不管谁来，他都呻吟哀诉，“饶了我吧！救救我！”但是大家都不知道怎么办好。邻居们都说他的声音和样子就像那些落网的麻雀在企求生路一 样。。
几天后，王毒药受不了这种折磨，咬舌自尽了。他得到这么可怖的下场，都是因为他之前过的可怖生活。
