ABSTRACT
From unidentifiable sea monsters to the tortoise is but a step, and the reptile has a most unenviable position in the Chinese vocabulary. To call a man a tortoise is the most deadly insult which can be offered. It casts reflexions on his parentage for the beast is supposed to have forgotten the eight characters which dt:note the moment of his birth. An alternative rendering is that he has forgotten the Eight Laws of politeness. In the North a tortoise drawn on a wall is the usual warning to "Commit no nuisance". It is the only creature who knows when it is going to rain, so speculations as to the weather are apt to be dangerous, and in North China to ask a man if he thinks a shower is imminent is an insult. The same idea can be conveyed by putting a hand on his head, as the tortoise is supposed to turn warm at the approach of rain. Sir Walter Hillier, in the Chinese Language, and How to Learn It, gives as an example of abusive language the epithet "Davil's daughter suckled scabby-headed tortoise" but it does not come so smoothly off the tongue as Wang Pa Tan (Turtle's Egg), a common term of endearment among muleteers and camel drivers.
