一鼠變蝙蝠， A mouse turned into a bat,
群鼠相慶賀。 And got congratulations from its fellow mice.
飛鳴覺身輕， Soaring and singing, [it] felt so light,
自喜脫貓禍。 Pleased with its freedom from cat disaster.
日中不見物， No sight in the day,
夜裡長忍餓。 Endless hunger at night,
不如當鼠時， Unlike its old life as a mouse,
窟裡飽眠臥。 [1] That lay in its nest well-fed, dozing.
* Fu Xuancong 傅璇琮 (1933-2016), Ni Qixin 倪其心 (1934-2002), Sun Qinshan 孫欽善, Chen Xin 陳新 eds., Quan Song shi 全宋詩 (Beijing: Beijing Daxue chubanshe, 1995), 1400.16113.
[1] Red characters rhyme.
A reminder for mice/bats: never underestimate a cat's hunting skills!
PS: The poor thing in the picture managed to escape in the end