法苑珠林 52.39

52.39

唐京都西市北店有王會師者。其母先終。服制已畢。至顯慶二年內。其家乃產一青黃母狗。會師妻為其盜食。乃以杖擊之數下。狗遂作人語曰。我是汝姑。新婦杖我大錯。我為嚴酷家人過甚。遂得此報。今既被打羞向汝家。因即走出。會師聞而洟泣抱以歸家。而復還去。凡經四五。會師見其意正乃屈請市北大街中。正是己店北大牆。後作小舍安置。每日送食。市人及行客就觀者極眾。投餅與者不可勝數。此犬常不離此舍。過齋時即不肯食。經一二歲莫知所之。

In the north shop of the Western Market in the Tang capital, there was a man named Wang Huishi. His mother had previously passed away, and the mourning period had concluded. During the second year of the Xianqing era, his family had a litter in which a yellowish-grey female dog was born. Because it stole food, Huishi's wife struck it several times with a staff. The dog then spoke in human language, saying: "I am your mother-in-law. Daughter-in-law, beating me is a great mistake! Because I was excessively harsh and cruel to the household, I incurred this retribution. Now that I have been beaten, I am ashamed to face your household." Thereupon it ran out. When Huishi heard this, he wept, picked it up, and brought it home, but it left again, repeating this four or five times. Seeing that its intention was determined, Huishi humbly invited it to the avenue north of the market, which was right behind the north wall of his own shop, where he built a small hut to house it and delivered food daily. Market people and travelers who went to view it were extremely numerous, and those who threw cakes to it could not be counted. This dog never left the hut, and once the hour for the noon meal passed, it refused to eat. After one or two years, it was unknown where it went.