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My words threw him into great agony. He burst into tears and said, "Do you pity me and want me to live on? But the misery I am suffering now is not at all worse than what I suffered before. If I had not taken this work, I would be in desperate straits. Three generations of my family have been living here for sixty years. Our neighbors are growing poorer day by day. In order to pay the taxes, they are compelled to hand over all the produce of their land and all the possessions in their house. They shuffle from village to village, wailing in distress, and many of them die of hunger along the way. They are beaten by wind and rain, suffering freezing cold in winter and scorching heat in summer. What's more, they have to inhale the pernicious air of deceased districts. In this way, people are dying one after another, and their dead bodies are piling up. Out of ten families that were my grandfather's neighbors, only one has survived, and out of ten families that were my father's neighbors, only two or three remain. As to the neighbors who have been living near me for the past twelve years, only four or five out of ten families have survived. Most of them are dead or have moved to other places. I luckily remain alive simply because I am a snake catcher. Whenever the relentless officers come to the village, they make a row and bully the people. The village people scream from terror. Even fowls and dogs are not left in peace. I get out of bed with fear and look into the jar. To my relief the snakes are still there. Then my mind is at ease and I return to bed. I feed the snakes with great care and deliver them to the authorities in time. Back at home, I eat the produce of the land so that I may live on till my death. I risk my life only twice a year. The rest of the time, I spend my days quite happily, unlike other village people whose lives are constantly threatened. Even if I were killed by a snake today, I would still have lived longer than my neighbors. Why should I complain?"
I feel all the more depressed upon hearing his story. I was once disbelieving of Confucius's words: "Tyrannical rule is more ferocious than a tiger." From Jiang's example I have come to realize that this saying is true. Alas! Who could have known that oppressive taxation is worse than venomous snakes? Hence I write down this story for those who are making investigations relating to the life of the common people.
