臨江之人，畋得麋麑，畜之。入門，群犬垂涎，揚尾皆來。其人怒，怛之。自是日抱就犬，習示之，使勿動，稍使與之戲。積久，犬皆如人意。麋麑稍大，忘己之麋也，以為犬良我友，抵觸偃僕，益狎。犬畏主人，與之俯仰甚善，然時啖其舌。

A man of Linjiang County hunted a young elk and brought it home to feed.  When the elk first came, all dogs in the house thronged to covet its meat.  The angry master detered the dogs from reaching the elk.  Since then the master started to cradle the elk and make it acquitanted with the dogs, repeating the move over and over again. At the begining, the master let the elk stay put, keeping a distance from dogs.  Later on he let it play with the dogs, who all knew their masters mind.  When the young elk grew older, it forgot itself as just a vulnerable reindeer and began to regard those dogs as its friends and regarded itself as an intimate partner with them, striking its antlers toward dogs and roller over its body on ground without scruple.  Those dogs dreaded their master and so inhibited thmselves, though they were still drolling over its meat.         

三年，麋出門，見外犬在道甚眾，走欲與為戲。外犬見而喜且怒，共殺食之，狼藉道上。麇至死不悟。“

Three years elspsed.  One day when the elk roamed out its home, it encountered a pack of stray dogs on road, to whom the elk approached and wanted to play with.  In anger,as well as in rapture, the dogs killed and devoured the elk, leaving its body scattered on the road.  The poor elk would have never known till the last minute why it was killed.   

PS   Subject article is one of "三戒" written by Mr Liu Zongyuan.  The other two immortal ones are "永某氏之鼠" (Please see my previous translation at http://blog.udn.com/kkuo0810/129261646) and "黔之驢"( Someday I will translate it, too).

Again, may I ask you, dear Taidu advocates, if the overtone of the article inspires you anything?