柳宗元·《三戒·临江之糜》英译

临江之人畋得麋，畜之。人门，群犬垂涎，扬尾皆来。其人怒，怛之。自是日抱就犬，习示之，使勿动，稍使与之戏。积久，犬皆如人意。<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

麋麑稍大，忘己之麋也，以为犬良我友，抵触偃仆，益狎，犬畏主人，与之俯仰甚善，然时淡其舌。

三年，麋出门，见外犬在道甚众，走欲与为戏。外犬见而喜且怒，共杀食之，狼藉道上。麋至死不悟。

The Deer of Linjiang

Liu Zong Yuan

A man of Linjiang caught a young deer and decided to keep it. But when he took it home, all his dogs bounded up with lolling tongues and wagging tails, making their master both angry and alarmed. So every day he carried the deer to the dogs in order that they should grow used to it and learn not to hurt it. And by degrees he allowed them to play together.

As time went by, all his dogs did as he wished. The deer grew and forgot that it was a deer but thought the dogs were its friends. It would butt them, lie down beside them, and make quite free with them. And the dogs, out of fear of their master, played up to it. From time to time, though, they would lick their chops.

When three years had passed, the dear went out of the gate. Seeing many dogs from other houses on the road, it ran to play with them. But the sight of it threw these strange dogs into a frenzy. They fell on the deer and devoured it, scattering its remains on the ground. And so the deer perished — without understanding the reason.