秦神 The sprite of the Tsin country. In the works of 楊雄 Yang-heung, met with in the 漢書 Books of Han, occurs the following: "神 The sprite of the Tsin country being afraid, trampled on his own soul, and skulked under the banks of the stream." 秦神下詟,跖魂负沴。 The commentator on this passage says, " That in the time of 文 Wan, the duke of 秦 Tsin, there was 怪 a monstrous elf about the court, which turning itself into a cow, fled to the southern hill, and hid among the trees of the wood : when the trees were cut down, it changed its shape again, and entered the 豐 Fung water. The duke 文 Wan abominated it, and made an image of it in order to bring it under subjection. This is what the people of the present day mean by 'the horned one:' which is called the 秦神 sprite of the Tsin country. It means that this 神 sprite became frightened, and dived into the water, where it trod on its own 魂 soul, and skulked with its back against the side of the pool, on account of its excessive terror." |
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