allad)allad)語畢，
等這位朋友「賜教」
。
他卻「賣關子」似地幽幽地說：「以
三說，自然各有b據，各有道理。但，我總覺得，這些文人學士們的詮釋，遠不如民間的解釋更直接，更扎實，也更符合生活的實際。」
他告訴我，他將「賜教」的「新解」，並非他個人的創見，而是從民間聽來的。
所謂「撲朔」、「迷離」，就〈木蘭辭〉而論，不過分別是指雄兔、雌兔發情時的情狀罷了。雄兔發情，常在雌兔身邊爬搔、躍動，幾乎無一刻安寧，此之便謂「撲朔」（即「爬搔」的音轉）；雌兔發情，則恰恰相反，常瞇起眼睛，呈恍惚之狀，此之便謂「迷離」（其本字當作「瞇(目麗)」歟）。此時的雙兔，不待指點、說明，為雄為雌，一眼可辨（不獨兔子，一般鳥獸的發情，亦多具此種鮮明特點）。然而，待到雌、雄雙兔一起飛奔時，誰又能辨別出它們的雌與雄來呢？木蘭，是民間傳說中的女英雄；此辭的作者，又是民間歌者，他為了抒發對女英雄由衷的欽敬與讚美之情，於是才又在詩歌的結尾，就現實生活取譬，並借女英雄木蘭之口，風趣、含蓄地表達出來。 朋友的「賜教」，令我耳目一新，覺得極有道理。看來，「先民有言，詢於芻蕘」的古訓，並沒有過時，即便在今天的「咬文嚼字」上，也都用得上呢。
撰文者：鮑延毅／山東省棗莊師專教授〈本文經作者同意，轉載自國文天地〉 版權所有，欲轉載文章，請徵求電子報的同意！
It seems to indicate, that the lines “雄兔腳撲朔, 雌兔眼迷離” really describes rabbits in heat. Males, fuss around the female, while females, feign befuddlement. At which point, one can easily distinguish their sex by their deportment alone. However, when the rabbits are running along, it becomes impossible to tell their sex again.
Thinking about it, the sexual behavior of leporidae in courtship is rather similar to human animals too. Men get excited and fuss about, while women, play dumb.
This poem is actually the last verse of the Mulan ballad. Here's the complete ballad:
木蘭辭 唧唧復唧唧, 木蘭當戶織, 不聞機杼聲, 惟聞女歎息。 問女何所思？問女何所憶？女亦無所思, 女亦無所憶。 昨夜見軍帖, 可汗大點兵；軍書十二卷, 卷卷有爺名。 阿爺無大兒, 木蘭無長兄, 願為市鞍馬, 從此替爺征。 東市買駿馬, 西市買鞍韉, 南市買轡頭, 北市買長鞭。 旦辭爺孃去, 暮宿黃河邊, 不聞爺孃喚女聲, 但聞黃河流水聲濺濺。 旦辭黃河去, 暮宿黑山頭, 不聞爺孃喚女聲, 但聞燕山胡騎聲啾啾。 萬里赴戎機, 關山度若飛, 朔氣傳金柝, 寒光照鐵衣。 將軍百戰死, 壯士十年歸。 歸來見天子, 天子坐明堂, 策勳十二轉, 賞賜百千強。 可汗問所欲, 木蘭不用尚書郎, 願借明駝千里足, 送兒還故鄉。 爺孃聞女來, 出郭相扶將；阿姊聞妹來, 當戶理紅妝； 小弟聞姊來, 磨刀霍霍向豬羊。 開我東閣門, 坐我西閣床；脫我戰時袍, 著我舊時裳； 當窗理雲鬢, 對鏡帖花黃。出門看火伴, 火伴皆驚惶： 同行十二年, 不知木蘭是女郎。 雄兔腳撲朔, 雌兔眼迷離, 兩兔傍地走, 安能辨我是雄雌？
Basically, the entire Mulan fable stems from this ballad. Note the ridiculousness of it. How can a girl, in military for 12 years, and fellow soldiers do not realize that she is a female? If so, she must be very unusual and manly. In modern times, she'd be a butcher dyke, or medically and psychologically certified transsexual. However, this fable went on and is kept in circulation, because the aspect of having girls in military barrack as their equals is a eternal fantasy of men, as can be seen in countless movies and fictions, where, very beautiful girls with titillating breasts and ludicrous feminized war attires that reveals much of their body, wielding swords or guns that can beat men. (e.g. in the movie Conan, Xena (the warriar princess) TV opera, countless Japanese animations, female assassins (Nikita, Kill Bill), G I Jane, video games.) In reality, a female taking the job of killing is extremely rare, and only started to have some minor roles in modern times supported by technology, because guns and machinery made sheer muscle power less necessary to do killings.
Men like these fantasies because it has no effect on reality. And, the prospect of having sexy girls in the military is good. The hungry soldiers truely needs it. While the fair sex, for the most part of human history, don't have a say in society because of the biologically developed social structure. If consulted, women in general don't have opinions on this one way or another. If anything, such fantasy glorifies their sex and they like it fine.
There is also a lecherous version of the ballad based on homonyms (same number of chars and same rhyme). Author unknow. English translation by me (Xah Lee):
pAvait Freexxxfemales Tr Modules Php Name Search Free Xxx Females 木蘭辭 (Mulan Ballad)z Females
xAvait Freexxxfemales Tr Modules Php Name Search Free Xxx Females 木蘭辭 (Mulan Ballad)t r Free Xxx Xxx