齊奄家畜一貓，自奇之，號于人曰虎貓。
Qi Yan kept a cat at home and thought it extraordinary; [he] addressed it as “Tiger-cat” to others.
客說之曰：“虎誠猛，不如龍之神也。請更名曰龍貓。”
A guest advised him, “A tiger is fierce indeed, but not as fabulous as a dragon. If I may make a suggestion, you should change its name to ‘Dragon-cat’.”
又客說之曰：“龍，固神於虎也。龍升天，須浮雲。雲其尚於龍乎。不如名曰雲。”
Another guest advised him, “A dragon is more fabulous than a tiger indeed. Yet a dragon soaring up to the sky will need drifting clouds. Perhaps clouds are superior to a dragon. It’s better to add ‘cloud’ to its name.”
又客說之曰：“雲靄蔽天，風倏散之，雲故不敵風也。請更名曰風。”
Still another guest advised him, “A wind disperses the clouds covering the sky in no time, so the clouds cannot rival the wind. If I may make a suggestion, you should change the name to ‘Wind’.”
又客說之曰：“大風飆起，維屏以牆，斯足蔽矣。風其如牆，何名之曰牆貓。”
Still another guest advised him, “[When] great winds gust over, [one] screens them off with a wall: this is good enough to block [them]. How can winds compare to a wall! Why not name it ‘Wall-cat’.”
可又客說之曰：“維牆雖固，維鼠穴之，牆斯圮矣。牆又如鼠何？即名曰鼠貓可也。”
Yet another guest advised him, “A wall is solid indeed, yet it collapses once mice make a hole in it. What can a wall do about mice? [You] can just name it ‘Mouse-cat’.”
東里丈人嗤之曰：“噫嘻！捕鼠者，故貓也。貓即貓耳，胡為自失本真哉！”
An elder from Dongli [1] scoffed at this, “Alas! What catches mice is a cat. A cat is simply a cat. Why does one ignore its true nature?”
* From Liu Yuanqin 劉元卿 (1544-1609), Xianyi bian 賢弈編 (Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編 edition, vol. 2940, Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1936), 3.76.
[1] Dongli 東里 is a placename (in present-day Xinzheng, Henan) that gained its symbolic meaning as the residence of wise men because Zichan 子產 (d. 522 BCE), a renowned minister and a model of virtue in the state of Zheng, used to live there.
Detail of the hanging scroll "Mao shu moxi" 貓鼠墨戲 by Puru 溥濡 (1896-1963)
Image credit: National Palace Museum, Taipei
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