She Diao Ying Xiong Chuan
(Eagle Shooting Hero)
by Jin Yong
Translators:
Minglei Huang,
Foreva,
Strunf,
Patudo,
Taihan,
Du Gu seeking a win,
SunnySnow,
James Worsley,
Rayon,
Xuelian,
Xfiberloss,
Hugh (aka IcyFox),
William Lee Chong Beng,
Daniel Shultz,
Bluebook,
Owbjhx,
Gimel Gimeno,
Frans Soetomo
Editors:
James Gataiant,
Percy Cael,
Qiu Shuyi,
Elif Kaya
Disclaimer
This work is an unofficial fan translation of Jin Yong’s She Diao Ying Xiong Chuan. The Copyright owner is Jin Yong and the publisher of his original Chinese text. The copyright owner of the English translations posted here is the respective translator(s). No part of this translation may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owner(s) nor be otherwise circulated for commercial purpose. Except for Chapter 26, this translation is from the 2nd Edition.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Incident in the Blizzard ..............................................................................1
Translated by Minglei Huang
Chapter 2 – Seven Freaks of the South ........................................................................33
Translated by Minglei Huang
Chapter 3 – The Winds of the Steppes.........................................................................63
Translated by Minglei Huang
Chapter 4 – Twin Killers of the Dark Winds ...............................................................93
Translated by Minglei Huang & Strunf
Chapter 5 – Crooked Bow Shooting Eagles ............................................................. 126
Translated by Foreva and Strunf
Chapter 6 – Mysterious Happenings on the Summit of the Cliff ............................. 156
Translated by Strunf, Patudo, Taihan and Dugu Seeking a Win
Chapter 7 – Joust to Find a Spouse ........................................................................... 187
Translated by Strunf, Patudo, Dugu Seeking a Win and SunnySnow
Chapter 8 – Each One Demonstrating His Skill ....................................................... 218
Translated by Patudo, Dugu Seeking a Win and SunnySnow
Chapter 9 – Iron Spear, Broken Plow ....................................................................... 238
Translated by James Worsley and SunnySnow
Chapter 10 – Enemies Meet ...................................................................................... 271
Translated by Rayon
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Eagle Shooting Hero
Chapter 1 – Incident in the Blizzard
Translated by Minglei Huang
The Taoist suddenly let out a huge laugh as his right palm rose; fast as lightning it struck the middle of the spear. ‘Crack!’ Yang Tiexin felt his hand go numb and hastily let go, the spear fell onto the snowy ground.
Day in and day out, day after day, the Qiantang River majestically winds through and around Ox Village, near the city of Linan, on its journey toward the sea. On the shores there stood thirty or so tallow trees, leaves red like fire, yet another sign that it was now August. The wild weeds and grass around the village had just started to turn yellow. The sun shone down at a low angle on the grass, adding even more to their bleakness. Underneath two giant pine trees there gathered a group of villagers; the crowd included both men and women along with more than ten children. All of them were listening to a thin old man, giving him their complete attention.
The old man was about fifty or so, the green robe that he was wearing had been washed to a bluish-gray. He banged two pieces of wood together a couple of times, with the little bamboo stick in his left hand he started to beat on a little drum to keep pace. He started to sing: “The peach blossoms without fail, vast unused fields feeding the crows. After the soldiers by the well, families gather in sorrow."
The old man banged the drum with the stick a couple of times more, and then continued: "Old Man Yie had a wife, a son, and a daughter. They lost each other when the Jin invaded. Finally, after many hardships and much difficulty, they were able to get back together. They returned to their home to find that the Jin soldiers had burned it to the ground. They had no choice but to head off to Bianliang (modern day Kaifeng, capital of North Song). 'The heavens produce unexpected storms, people have unforeseen misfortunes'. As soon as the four of them got to Bianliang, they ran into a troop of Jin soldiers. The leader of the soldiers looked down and saw that Young Miss Yie was quite beautiful; he jumped down from his horse, and grabbed her. With a laugh, he threw her onto his saddle and said: 'Pretty little girl, you are going to go home with me.' How could young Miss Yie agree? She struggled with all her might. The leader yelled out: 'If you don't stop struggling, then your family will die!' He picked up his ‘wolf fang’ club and smashed it down on her brother's head.”….‘The nether world gains a new ghost, the real world loses one more soul.'
“Old Man Yie and his wife fell onto their son's body and started to cry their hearts out. That Jin soldier lifted up this ‘wolf fang’ club twice more and took care of them. Young Miss Yie did not cry, she simply said: ‘Sir, please stop killing people. I'll go with you.' This made the soldier extremely happy. Just as he let his guard down, Young Miss Yie suddenly grabbed the saber at his waist, pulled it out, and thrust at his heart. It looked like she was about to avenge her family's death; but alas it was not to be. That soldier had much experience on the battlefield; with out thinking, he merely pushed her forward very naturally, sending Young Miss Yie to the ground. He had just enough time to say: 'Little bitch!' But Young Miss Yie has already brought the blade to her neck.
Poor girl: ‘With a flower's beauty and the moon's grace, such a sweet soul dying sadly so young.'"
He alternated between talking and singing. Every single one of the villagers was now sighing in sadness and rage. The man continued: “Dear audience members, as the saying goes: ‘Treat others with an honest heart, hold your head up on high with pride. If evil deeds go unpunished, only the evil will survive.’ The Jin has conquered half of our Great Song, killing, burning, raping and pillaging; not an evil deed left undone. Yet no punishment whatsoever seems to be forthcoming.
Our Great Song's officials are responsible for this. China has plenty of healthy and available soldiers; yet every time we go up against the Jin armies, all they do is turn around and run, leaving us peasants behind to suffer. There are stories, like the one about Young Miss Yie and her family, by the thousands north of the river. Living here south of the river is truly like being in heaven on earth, but we fear the day the Jin soldiers come invading. ‘Rather be a dog in peace, than a man in troubled times!’ My name is Zhang Shiwu, thanks everyone for listening to the story of 'Miss Yie, the Young Martyr'." After banging the drum several more times, he held up a tray.
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Eagle Shooting Hero
Many of the villagers placed a coin or two in the pan, which quickly filled up. Zhang Shiwu thanked the villagers and gathered the sixty or seventy coins into his travel bag. He got up and started to walk off.
A young man of around twenty years of age walked out from among the villagers. He asked: "Mr.
Zhang, did you just come from the north?" The young fellow was very tall and very well built with big eyes and a pair of very bushy eyebrows. Zhang Shiwu answered: "Yes." The young man answered: "Then let's have a couple of drinks. I'll pay, what do you say?" Zhang Shiwu replied: "I dare not receive such a favor as a stranger." The young fellow laughed and answered: "Once we’ve had a couple of drinks, then we are no longer strangers are we? My surname is Guo, given name Xiaotian” Pointing at a clean, white-faced fellow behind him, he continued: "This here is Yang Tiexin. The two of us were just listening to your story. As expected, it was a good story; but we still have several questions we wanted to ask." Zhang Shiwu replied: "No problem, no problem. To run into the two of you today is probably fate doing its work." Guo Xiaotian led Zhang Shiwu to one of the small wine shops in Ox Village and sat down at one of the tables.
The owner of this little wine shop is a cripple. Supported by two crutches, he slowly brought out two jugs of wine, a plate of peas, a plate of salted peanuts, a plate of dried bean curd, and a plate with three salted eggs. Afterwards he sat down on the stool by the door and stared at the setting sun, not even glancing at the three men.
Guo Xiaotian poured the wine and made Zhang Shiwu down two bowls before he began: "Here in the country, we only get to buy meat on the 2nd and the 16th, so we don't have any meat to go down with the wine. Please forgive us." Zhang Shiwu replied: "At least we’ve got wine, can't complain about that. From your accents, seems like you two are from up north." Yang Tiexin answered: "We are both from Shandong province. We moved away three years ago because we couldn't stand the Jin running loose around there. When we arrived, we fell in love with the people here and settled down. Just now you were saying that us living here south of the river is like living in heaven itself, fearing only an invasion by the Jin. Do you really think that the Jin will invade?"
Zhang Shiwu sighed: "Gold and silver could literally cover the ground and there are beautiful women every which way you look; such is the richness and enchantment of the south. There isn't a day that passes without the Jin thinking about invading. But the final decision about the invasion of the Jin is not made by the Jin, but is made by the Imperial Court of our Great Song in Linan!" This took both Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin by surprise. They asked as one: "Why do you say that?"