Taming the Dragon and the Tiger [antikvár]

SCENE I Glad Tidings in the Hills Forest area skirting the Dragon River; the waves in the river can he seen rolling eastwards. When the curtain rises a large tiger with a white mark on its forehead is sitting on a crag overgrown with tangled undergrowth. From the forest comes the sound of hunters' druTus and horns, reverberating across hill and valley. The tiger shrinks back in alarm and leaps out of sight. A short pause, then a yellow flag leads on Chao Ta-kang and a team of powerfully-built hunters; on the flag is the inscription in red: "Youth Tiger-hunting Team of Tiger Hill People's Commune." The team looks round for the tiger's spoor. CHAO {discovering the tiger's spoor): Tieh-chu, you block the east side! Shih-tou, you block the west side! Erh-shun, you go round and head him off; Fei-mao-tui, you come with me! (All go off following the spoor.) (Chen Chang-shou, Liu Pao-shan and Kao Shou-tien come on together. They are just going to move forward when they are halted by a shout from the forest.) VOICE OFF: Stop! There's a pitfall in the forest, with a noose in it! LIU: It wouldn't stop us if there were swords in it! KAO: We're on urgent business, neighbour.