宏智禪師廣錄 2.22

2.22

舉南泉一日東西兩堂爭猫兒。南泉見遂提起云。道得即不斬。眾無對。泉斬却猫兒為兩段。南泉復舉前話問趙州。州便脫草鞋。於頭上戴出。泉云。子若在恰救得猫兒。頌曰。

Case: One day, Nanquan saw the Eastern and Western Halls fighting over a cat. Nanquan then held it up and said, "If you can speak, it will not be cut." The assembly had no answer. Nanquan cut the cat into two pieces. Later, Nanquan brought up this previous encounter and asked Zhaozhou about it. Zhaozhou immediately took off his straw sandals, put them on his head, and walked out. Nanquan said, "Had you been there, you would have saved the cat." The verse says: