蜀中有杜处士，好书画，所宝以百数。有戴嵩牛一轴，尤所爱，锦囊玉轴，常以自随。 一日曝书画。而一牧童见之，拊掌大笑，曰：“此画斗牛也，牛斗力在角，尾搐入两股间，今乃掉尾而斗，谬矣！”处士笑而然之。
——《东坡志林》 The Fighting Oxen
A
great artist painted a picture of two oxen fighting. Everybody
praised it. “Look!
How spirited they look, like live ones.” The
artist swelled with pride. He had the painting mounted on precious silk hung
from jade rods, and put it away in a cedar chest. Rarely would he show it to anyone
except those who could appreciate fine work. One
day he took the painting from the chest, unrolled it, and hung it in the sun,
as a precaution against bookworms. Just
then a cowherd entered the courtyard, stood before the picture and smiled
broadly. “When
oxen fight and but with their horns,” said the boy, “they keep their tails
tucked between their rumps. Now in this picture, they’re flicking their tails
about. I’ve never seen oxen fighting like that before.” The
great painter had no answer to this.
Dong Po Zhi Lin （杨宪益、戴乃迭 译） |
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