A man in Yongzhou was afraid that doing things on certain days would bring misfortune.

 

As he was born in the year of zi, and the rat was considered the deity¹ of zi, he especially shielded it. He not only didn't keep cats and dogs, but also wouldn't allow his servants to kill rats. He allowed rats to run wild in his granary and kitchen and never bothered about them. Hence, the rats told one another about this and moved one after another into his house, where they ate their fill all day long and lived in safety.

 

This gentleman's house was so ruined by the rats that there was neither an intact utensil² nor a whole garment on the clothes rack. Even his own food was mostly leftovers³ by the rats.

 

In the daytime, the rats walked in swarms⁴ around the master. At night, they fought for food, quarrelled and squeaked⁵, making such a racket that no one could sleep. Yet this gentleman never felt annoyed.

 

Several years later, this gentleman moved away and another family moved in. Yet the rats went on brazenly⁶ with their evil deeds as before.

 

The new master was very angry. He said: "These shameless pests steal things and make trouble so devastatingly⁷. How could they be tolerated?"

 

He immediately borrowed five to six good cats, closed the doors and windows, and let them catch the rats. He also engaged men to move bricks and tiles, fill up the holes with water so as to close in on the rats on all sides.

 

Thus, the rats caught and killed were thrown to an out-of- the-way place, heaped up like a hill. It took several months for the stench to dissipate.

 

Those rats probably thought they could always eat their fill without any disaster. Actually this was lamentable⁸. The rats should never be tolerated.

 

永州有个人，害怕在某些日子里办事会倒霉。

 

他生于子年，而且老鼠被认为是子神，所以他特别袒护老鼠。他不但不养猫和狗，而且不准仆人打老鼠。他家的粮仓、厨房，任凭老鼠怎么横行，也从来不去过问。于是，老鼠互相转告，纷纷搬到他家来住，饱食终日，安然无恙。

 

这位先生的家里，被老鼠糟蹋得没有一件完好的器具，衣架上没有一件完整的衣裳，自己的食品也大多是老鼠吃剩下来的残余。

 

白天，老鼠成群结队跟主人一道行走；夜晚，抢吃东西，吵架争斗，刺耳的尖叫声，吵得人无法睡觉，然而这位先生却从不觉得厌烦。

 

几年后，这位先生迁居外地，另一户人家搬进来居住。老鼠仍旧像过去那样为非作歹，肆无忌惮。

 

新主人十分恼火，说:“这些见不得阳光的坏东西，偷窃捣乱得太厉害了，怎么能容忍呢？”

 

他立即借来了五六只好猫，关了门窗捕捉，还专门雇人搬砖移瓦，用水灌洞，四面围剿。

 

就这样，捕杀的老鼠被扔在偏僻的地方，堆积如山，臭味几个月后才慢慢散尽。

 

那些老鼠可能自以为它们能一直饱食终日，安然无恙。这种想法实际上是很悲哀的。人们决不应该姑息老鼠。

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