A Charge Given to the Brindled Mastiff命斑獒文
爾毛有文。槃瓠之孫乎。爾捷而慧。烏龍之裔乎。鈴蹄而漆喙。舒節而急筋。戀主之誠可愛。守門之任斯存。予是以嘉乃猛愛乃意。育之於家。以寵以飼。汝雖賤畜。斗精所寄。其靈且智。物孰類爾。主人有命。汝宜竦耳。吠嘗無節人不懼。齧不擇人禍之始。有岌岌戴進賢三梁。言言挾華輈兩廂。帶櫑具佩水蒼。騶哄塡坊。鏘鏘琅琅而至者則汝勿吠。有高文大冊不可稽滯。聖慮念臣儻可奉制。急遣內豎。徵主人詣天陛者至則雖夜汝勿吠。有飣腶盤䐰。皿腌鼎餾。樽醴壺醔。饋先生行束脩者至則汝勿吠。有衣縫腋挾緗帙。欲與主人橫訊直質。踳駮難詰者林林而至則汝勿吠。所可吠且齧者。亦聽於吾。頕實虛乘不虞。穴墻墉窺室廬。謀攫金規竊鈇者則汝速吠速齧勿徐。其或外脂柔內鉗忌。偵人是非。潛毒隱刺者。突梯嚅咡而至則汝吠可也。有老覡淫巫。膯視橫眄。舞幻引怪。以詿以眩者。款扉而求見則汝齧之可也。有黠鬼妖魑緣隙以窺。伺黑以欺則汝吠而追之可也。有伏貍碩鼠鑽墻以處。廁匿睥睨則汝齧而殪之可也。橐有肉毋盜。鼎有湆毋舐。毋登堂。毋撥地。毋離門。毋嗜睡。生雛則惟獢惟獰。豹膺螭尾。以及于主人之孫子宜矣。嗚呼。汝若敬聽吾言。佩以周旋。千歲之後。主人登仙。飮汝以藥。牽而上天。孰曰不然。敬聽敬聽毋忽焉。
Your coat is patterned — are you then a descendant of Panhu (槃瓠)? You are swift and clever — are you then an heir of Wulong (烏龍)? Your paws are like bells and your muzzle as though lacquered; your joints are loose but your sinews quick. The devotion with which you long for your master is lovable, and herein lies your duty of guarding the gate. For this I hold your fierceness fine, and loving your spirit I keep you in the house, cherish you and feed you. Lowly beast though you are, you are a place where the essence of the Northern Dipper has lodged, and in that numinous cleverness what beast is like you? Your master has something to charge you with; you had best prick up your ears.
If there is no measure in your barking, men will not fear you; if you do not choose whom you bite, that is the beginning of calamity. When one comes bearing high the three-ridged Advancing-the-Worthy cap (進賢冠), flanked in dignity on both sides of a splendid carriage, girt with a noegu sword (櫑具劍) and hung with water-grey jade (水蒼玉), the shouts that clear the way filling the lane, coming on ringing and resonant — at him you must not bark. When there is some great writing or great document that cannot be delayed, and the king's thought has turned to his servant so that a palace attendant is sent in haste to call the master to the steps of the palace, perhaps to have him receive an edict — when such a one arrives, even at night you must not bark. When one comes bringing trays of sliced meat and dried meat, dishes of pickled things and cauldrons of boiled things, jars of sweet ale and bottles of strained wine, to present them to the teacher and perform the rite of the bundled dried meat (束脩) — at him you must not bark. When men come in a row wearing robes stitched under the arms and carrying yellow book-cases, who question the master this way and argue him that way, tangled and mottled and hard to refute — at them you must not bark.
Hear from me too what you may bark and bite at. One who takes the dark and empty hour, breaks through the wall unlooked for and peers into the rooms, who schemes to snatch gold and would steal the axe — at him bark at once and bite at once, and do not be slow. One whose outside is sleek and soft but who inwardly shrinks like a pair of pincers, who watches for quarrels among others, scatters poison in secret and stabs from hiding — when he comes mumbling and hesitating, you may bark. When an old sorcerer or a lewd shaman, glaring and casting sidelong looks, dancing out conjurings and drawing in strange things to deceive and bewitch, knocks at the gate and asks for an audience, you may bite. When a crafty ghost or a baleful goblin takes its chance to spy and watches the darkness to deceive, you may bark it away. When a crouching wildcat or a great rat breaks through the wall and settles in, hiding in the privy and glowering, you may bite it dead.
Though there be meat in the bag, do not steal it; though there be broth in the pot, do not lick it. Do not climb up onto the hall, do not dig up the ground, do not leave the gate, do not take pleasure in sleep. When you bear young, it is fitting that they be fierce and nothing but harsh, with a leopard's breast and a serpent's tail, and that they serve even unto the master's grandsons. Ah, if you listen reverently to my words and carry them about upon you, then a thousand years hence, when your master rises as an immortal, he will feed you the elixir and lead you up with him into heaven. Who shall say it will not be so? Listen reverently, listen reverently; do not be careless.