法苑珠林 57.37

57.37

隋楊州卞士瑜者。其父在隋。以平陳功授儀同。慳悋。嘗雇人築宅不還其價。作人求錢。卞父鞭之怒曰。若實負我死當與汝作牛。須臾之間卞父死。其年作牛孕產一黃犢。腰有黑文。橫絡周匝。如人腰帶。右跨有白文。斜貫大小。正如象笏形。牛主呼之曰。卞公何為負我。犢即屈前膝以頭著地。瑜以錢十萬贖之。牛主不許。死乃收葬。瑜為臨自說之爾。

Under the Sui, there was Bian Shiyu of Yangzhou. During the Sui, his father was granted the title of Grand Master for Thorough Counsel for his merit in pacifying the Chen dynasty. He was miserly. Once, he hired laborers to build a house but did not pay them their wages. When a laborer came demanding the money, Bian's father whipped him and said angrily: 'If I truly owe you, in death I will become an ox for you!' In a brief moment, Bian's father died. That year, a cow belonging to the laborer conceived and gave birth to a yellow calf. Across its waist were black markings running horizontally all around, like a human belt. On its right thigh were white markings crossing diagonally, large and small, shaped exactly like an ivory tablet. The owner of the ox called out to it: 'Lord Bian, why did you default on me?' The calf immediately bent its front knees and touched its head to the ground. Shiyu offered one hundred thousand cash to redeem it, but the owner would not allow it. Only when it died did he collect and bury it. Shiyu personally recounted this when facing [others].