陸遊《習嬾自咎》“Self-reprimand for perpetual indolence” by Lu You (1125-1210)

習嬾多遺事，

時能害睡眠。

貛驕殘竹筍，

鼠橫齧床氈。

猧子巡籬落，

狸奴護簡編。

人間有俊物，

求買敢論錢。

Perpetual indolence, leaving countless loose ends,

Keeps me awake through the night now and then,

[As] wayward badgers spoil the bamboo shoots,

And rampant mice nibble at the felt on my bed.

[Yet my] dog patrols the courtyard fence,

[And my] cat guards the scrolls of bamboo slips.

Such marvellous creatures of this world,

Why would one ever begrudge their cost?

* From Lu You, Jiannan shi gao jiaozhu 劍南詩稿校注 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1985), 64.3624-25.

Indispensable guardians of the house

A rare shot proving that a Golden Retriever does have the guts to face a badger!