狸力

The Classic of Southern Mountains, second section: its head is Mount Gui, facing west on the Liuhuang, looking north to Zhu Pi and east to Changyou. The Ying River issues from it and flows southwest into the Red Water; in it is much white jade and red cinnabar sand. A beast lives there, shaped like a piglet, with spurs, barking like a dog. Its name is Lili. When it appears, the county has much earthwork. "Shaped like a piglet, with spurs." Spurs — like the backward spike on a rooster's heel, the one they fight with. Very few mammals have them. That detail narrows the field sharply. In southern China there is an animal covered in overlapping horny scales, with a pointed snout, a long tongue, and enormously developed foreclaws. It walks on the backs of its front claws, folded under, which is how it keeps the digging edges sharp. The pangolin. Pangolins do have a heel spur. In the Chinese pangolin there is a distinct horny projection on the inner side of the hind limb, and anatomically it is exactly a calcaneal spur. The hind claws are longer than the front ones, and the animal stands on them, so the spur is conspicuous. So "like a piglet with spurs" is precise field description: a small-pig body with a spike on the hind foot. "Its cry is like a dog's bark." Pangolins vocalize. Normally silent, when startled or handled they produce a sharp huff and a low bark that does sound like a small dog. Then the point: "when it appears, the county has much earthwork." Earthwork means construction. In the ancient world that meant conscription labour — city walls, dikes, canals, roads, tombs. Months away from home. Why would a pangolin mean a big project? Because pangolins dig. One animal can dig dozens of burrows a year, a metre to three deep, mouths a dozen centimetres across. It digs beside ant nests, because it eats termites and ants by the several hundred grams a meal. And where does it dig? Field bunds, river dikes, pond banks, grave mounds, road beds. All of these are compacted人工 earthworks. Pangolins favour dikes and pond banks because the soil is loose and the termites are there. One hole, twelve centimetres wide and two metres deep, straight through a dike body. Then the flood comes. Water enters the hole, scours the interior, and the outside still looks intact while the inside is hollow. The day it fails, a whole section goes at once. So "when it appears, much earthwork" is not the pangolin bringing a project. The pangolin dug; the dike leaks; now it must be repaired. The causality in the entry runs backwards. The observation is exact. There is a second layer. Termites. Pangolins eat termites, and termites are a dike's worst enemy. A colony inside an earth dam hollows the core into a honeycomb within a few years. Water engineering has a term for it: ant damage. To this day, hunting for termite nests is a standard item on reservoir dam inspection. So a pangolin on the dike is a signal: there are termites here, and the termites have already hollowed it out. The pangolin simply followed its food. It is an indicator species. Its presence means the problem underground is already advanced. Centuries of observation compressed into one sentence: see a Lili, and this county will be moving earth. Not superstition. Dike inspection, written as an omen. And the pangolin now? The Chinese pangolin is critically endangered. On the IUCN Red List it went from least concern to critically endangered in under thirty years. The cause is consumption — scales for medicine, meat as a delicacy. When the Shanhaijing recorded it, it was a nuisance whose appearance meant repairs. Now many people will never see a living one.

เขากุ้ยมีสัตว์ "รูปร่างเหมือนหมู แต่มีเดือยที่ขา เห่าเหมือนหมา" ชื่อหลีลี่ "เห็นเมื่อไรอำเภอนั้นมีงานขุดดินมาก" "หมูที่มีเดือย" = ตัวนิ่ม (pangolin) มันมีปุ่มแข็งที่ขาหลังจริง หลังเท้ายาวกว่าหน้า เดินโดยพับเล็บหน้าไว้ ตัวนิ่มขุดรูปีละหลายสิบรู ลึก 1–3 เมตร ชอบขุดที่คันนา คันดิน ริมบ่อ และเชิงถนน — ซึ่งล้วนเป็นดินที่มนุษย์บดอัดไว้ รูเดียวทะลุตัวคัน เมื่อน้ำมาจะเซาะภายใน คันยังดูดีแต่ข้างในกลวง วันหนึ่งก็ถล่มทั้งช่วง ดังนั้น "เห็นแล้วมีงานขุดดิน" ไม่ใช่คำสาป แต่คือ: ตัวนิ่มขุดรู → คันรั่ว → ต้องซ่อม อีกชั้น: ปลวก ตัวนิ่มกินปลวก ปลวกคือศัตรูอันดับหนึ่งของเขื่อนดิน รังปลวกในตัวเขื่อนทำให้แกนกลวงเป็นรังผึ้ง — งานตรวจเขื่อนทุกวันนี้ยังต้องห.Rang ปลวก วันนี้ตัวนิ่มจีนอยู่ในขั้น "ใกล้สูญพันธุ์อย่างยิ่ง" เพราะถูกล่าเอาเกล็ดและเนื้อ

Gunung Gui ada binatang "bentuk anak babi, ada taji di kaki, salak seperti anjing", namanya Lili. "Muncul, daerah itu banyak kerja tanah." "Babi bertaji" ialah tenggiling. Ia memang ada tonjolan tanduk pada kaki belakang; cakar belakang lebih panjang daripada depan, dan ia berjalan atas belakang cakar depan yang dilipat. Tenggiling menggali berpuluh lubang setahun, dalam 1–3 meter, dan suka menggali di benteng sawah, tebing sungai, dan tepi jalan — semuanya tanah yang dipadatkan manusia. Satu lubang menembusi benteng. Bila banjir, air mengikis dalam; luarnya nampak utuh, dalamnya kosong. Suatu hari runtuh sekaligus. Jadi "muncul, banyak kerja tanah" bukan sumpahan: tenggiling gali, benteng bocor, lalu mesti dibaiki. Lapisan kedua: anai-anai. Tenggiling makan anai-anai, dan anai-anai ialah musuh utama empangan tanah. Hari ini pun pemeriksaan empangan masih mencari sarang anai-anai. Kini tenggiling China terancam kritikal kerana diburu untuk sisik dan daging.

Núi Quỹ có thú "hình lợn, có cựa ở chân, sủa như chó", tên Ly Lực. "Xuất hiện thì huyện ấy nhiều việc đất." "Lợn có cựa" là tê tê. Nó thật sự có mấu sừng ở chân sau; móng sau dài hơn móng trước, và nó đi bằng mu bàn móng trước gập lại. Tê tê đào hàng chục hang mỗi năm, sâu 1–3 mét, thích đào ở bờ ruộng, đê sông, bờ ao, lề đường — đều là đất người ta đã đầm nén. Một hang xuyên qua thân đê. Khi lũ đến, nước xói bên trong; ngoài vẫn lành, trong đã rỗng. Một ngày nào đó cả đoạn sụp. Nên "xuất hiện thì nhiều việc đất" không phải lời nguyền: tê tê đào → đê rò → phải sửa. Tầng thứ hai: mối. Tê tê ăn mối, mà mối là kẻ thù số một của đập đất. Đến nay kiểm tra đập vẫn phải tìm tổ mối. Ngày nay tê tê Trung Quốc cực kỳ nguy cấp vì bị săn lấy vảy và thịt.

Gunung Gui ada binatang "bentuk anak babi, ada taji di kaki, menyalak seperti anjing", namanya Lili. "Muncul, daerah itu banyak kerja tanah." "Babi bertaji" adalah trenggiling. Ia memang punya tonjolan tanduk pada kaki belakang; cakar belakang lebih panjang dari depan, dan ia berjalan di atas punggung cakar depan yang terlipat. Trenggiling menggali puluhan lubang setahun, dalam 1–3 meter, dan suka menggali di tanggul sawah, tebing sungai, dan tepi jalan — semuanya tanah yang dipadatkan manusia. Satu lubang menembus tanggul. Saat banjir, air menggerus bagian dalam; luarnya tampak utuh, dalamnya kosong. Suatu hari runtuh sekaligus. Jadi "muncul, banyak kerja tanah" bukan kutukan: trenggiling menggali, tanggul bocor, lalu harus diperbaiki. Lapisan kedua: rayap. Trenggiling makan rayap, dan rayap adalah musuh utama bendungan tanah. Hingga kini pemeriksaan bendungan masih mencari sarang rayap. Kini trenggiling Tiongkok sangat terancam karena diburu untuk sisik dan daging.