 放大圖片
魁星是組成北斗七星的前4顆星。在道教神祇中，魁星的造像面目猙獰(圖)，金身青面，頭上還有兩隻肉角，右手握硃筆，左手持墨斗，右腳踏在一隻鰲的頭上，有「獨佔鰲頭」之意，左腳揚起後踢，乘托北斗七星。
傳說魁星才高八斗，但卻瘸腿且滿臉麻子。他在一次科舉中獲晉級殿試，由皇帝親自測試其文才，可是當皇帝宣他上殿時，一看其容貌和瘸腿，不悅地問：「你的臉怎麼了？」他回答：「這是麻面映天象，捧摘星斗」。皇帝又問：「那麼你的腿呢？」他又答：「這是單腳躍龍門，獨佔鰲頭。」皇帝覺得這人對答有趣，就正經問他：「你能否說出當今天下，誰的文章寫得最好？」他毫不猶豫答道：「天下文章在三江，三江文章歸我鄉，我鄉文章屬舍弟，舍弟文章由我改。」皇帝聽後龍顏大悅，遂欽點他為狀元。
Kui Xing
Kui Xing is a Tao deity with an ugly appearance. He is often posed as holding a Chinese brush and an inkslab. His right foot rests on the head of a giant turtle, implying the most outstanding one. His left foot supports a ladle(the dipper).
It was said that Kui Xing was lame and ugly yet extremely bright. He entered for the imperial examination and won an interview with the emperor. "What happened to your face?" the emperor asked. "My face is only a reflection of the starry sky," replied Kui Xing. "Then what's wrong with your leg?" the emperor asked. "It's enough for me to jump through the dragon's gate with just one leg and beat my competitors." The Emperor was much amused. "Then tell me who writes the best essays in our country?" "The best essays come from the Yangtze delta provinces. My brother is the best writer in the region. It happens that I taught my brother how to write," Kui Xing replied. The emperor was so pleased with Kui Xing that he granted him the highest honor in the exam. ■甄枝強 資深天文愛好者
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放大圖片
