萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 1.125

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師云。法雲圓通秀禪師。見二僧並立說話。將拄杖。到連卓數下云。一片業地。何況兩堂眾首。因猫致諍。南泉也不與解勸。亦不與懲罰。本色道人。以本分事。為人遂提起猫兒云。道得即不斬。正當恁麼時。盡十方界有情無情。一齊向南泉手中乞命。當時有箇出來展開兩手。不然攔胸抱住云却勞和尚神用。縱南泉別行正令。敢保救得猫兒。這一窟死老鼠。既無些子氣息。南泉已展不縮。盡令而行。遼朝上人𭣪作鏡心錄。訶南泉輩殺生造罪。文首座作無盡燈辨誤。救云。古本以手作虛斫勢。豈直一刀兩段。鮮血淋迸哉。這兩箇批判古人。文公罪重。𭣪公罪輕。南泉依舊。水牯牛隊裡。搖頭擺尾。不見。佛日禪師與眾茶座次。見猫來。袖中擲鵓鴿與之。猫接得便去。日云俊哉不可也是假作虛用。南泉自念。曲高和寡。舉前話問趙州。州便脫草鞋於頭上戴出。果然敲唱俱行。節拍成就。泉云。子若在恰救得猫兒。這些子用處。雖難會却易見。爾但向拈匙舉筯處覰破。便見斬猫兒戴草鞋更無兩樣。不然更看。天童別作甚麼伎倆。頌云。

The Master said: Chan Master Fayun Yuantong Xiu, seeing two monks standing side by side talking, took his staff, went over, and struck the ground several times, saying, 'A patch of karmic ground!' How much more so when the heads of both halls stir up a dispute over a cat! Nanquan neither reasoned with them nor punished them. A true person of the Way acts for others using the fundamental affair: he picked up the cat and said, 'If you can speak, I will not cut it.' Just at that very moment, all sentient and insentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions were begging for their lives in Nanquan's hands at once. Had someone stepped forward then, spread both hands wide, or embraced him around the chest and said, 'We have troubled the Venerable's spiritual working,' even if Nanquan had carried out his correct command differently, I dare say the cat would have been saved. This den of dead rats had not a breath of life, so Nanquan, having drawn it out, did not pull back, and carried out the command to the end. Senior Monk Xian of the Liao dynasty composed the *Jingxin lu* (Record of Mirroring the Mind), scolding Nanquan and his like for killing living beings and creating karma. Head Monk Wen wrote the *Wujindeng bianwu* (Discerning Errors in the Inexhaustible Lamp) to rescue him, saying, 'The ancient texts indicate he merely made a slashing gesture with his hand; how could it mean he actually cut it into two pieces with fresh blood spurting out?' Between these two critiquing an ancient: Wen's fault is heavy, while Xian's fault is light. Nanquan, as ever, shakes his head and wags his tail among the herd of water buffaloes. Haven't you seen? When Chan Master Fori was taking tea with the assembly, he saw a cat come by, threw a pigeon to it from his sleeve, and the cat took it and went off. Fori said, 'Splendid!' Could that too have been a false, empty pretense? Nanquan thought to himself that a high tune has few to join in, so he raised the preceding case to test Zhaozhou. Zhou at once took off his straw sandals, put them on his head, and walked out. Truly, the striking and singing went together; the rhythm was fulfilled. Nanquan said, 'Had you been here, you would have saved the cat.' This bit of function, though hard to understand, is easy to see. If you only see through it right where you pick up a spoon and raise chopsticks, you will see that cutting the cat and putting sandals on the head are not two different things. If not, look further at what other craft Tiantong displays. The verse says: