Fox Fake Tiger Power version 2

http://no1chineselearnin.blog.163.com/blog/static/1916280812012513104851222/

Informant: John Ling, 19, M

Date Collected: 5/26/14

Genre: Proverb

Informant Data: John was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan and currently attends Dartmouth College. His background is Chinese-Taiwanese-American, and he is equally fluent in Mandarin and English, which are both his first languages. He does not remember where he first encountered this proverb, but was enthusiastic about sharing the story behind it. This proverb was collected through an interview at Dartmouth.

Text/Texture 

Chinese: 狐假虎威 (hǔ jiǎ hǔ wēi)

Literal Translation: Fox fake tiger power

Free Translation: There's a fox and a tiger who live in a forest. The fox goes up to the tiger and tells him that it's actually him, the fox, who is the most powerful animal in the forest. The tiger doesn't believe him and demands that the fox prove it. The fox agrees and tells the tiger to follow him. They walk through the forest with the fox in front and the tiger close behind, and wherever they go all the animals flee from the tiger. However, it looks to the tiger that all the animals are fleeing from the fox, and he concludes that the fox is indeed the most powerful animal in the forest. 

Context: Used to advise people to always assess the full situation and not be fooled by displays of power, or could be used to remind people that they can think of clever solutions to make up for things that they lack.

Meaning/Interpretation: