thought to Ah Q's bewildered mind, and "attaining knowledge alone without the help of a teacher," an incomplete sentence which had never been spoken by him before.
"Bravo!" came from the midst of the crowd like the growl of a wolf.
The wagon did not stop, but went on. In the midst of the applause, Ah Q rolled his eyes in search of Amah Wu, who did not appear to have seen him at all, but kept staring fixedly at the foreign rifles on the shoulders of the soldiers.
Ah Q, therefore, looked again at the applauders. His thoughts again swirled like the mad gyration of a whirlpool. Four years ago, he had met at the foothills a famished wolf which kept following him, neither increasing nor decreasing the distance between them, grimly bent on chewing his flesh. At that time, he was well-nigh frightened to the point of death, but, fortunately for him, he then held in his hand a wood cleaver, which gave him enough courage to enable his getting to Weichuang. Thus, forever would he remember the eyes of that wolf: cruel and savage they were, scintillating like two balls of spirit fire, seeming to come as they did from a distance, piercing his very flesh. On this occasion, likewise, he beheld frightful eyes such as he had never seen before, blunt and cuttingly sharp they were; they had not only chewed his words, but
