楊天一言：見二鼠出，其一為蛇所吞；其一瞪目如椒，似甚恨怒，然遙望不敢前。蛇果腹，蜿蜒入穴；方將過半，鼠奔來，力嚼其尾。蛇怒，退身出。鼠故便捷，歘然遁去。蛇追不及而返。及入穴，鼠又來，嚼如前狀。蛇入則來，蛇出則往，如是者久。蛇出，吐死鼠于地上。鼠來嗅之，啾啾如悼息，銜之而去。友人張歷友為作《義鼠行》。
杨天一言：见二鼠出，其一为蛇所吞；其一瞪目如椒，似甚恨怒，然遥望不敢前。蛇果腹，蜿蜒入穴；方将过半，鼠奔来，力嚼其尾。蛇怒，退身出。鼠故便捷，歘然遁去。蛇追不及而返。及入穴，鼠又来，嚼如前状。蛇入则来，蛇出则往，如是者久。蛇出，吐死鼠于地上。鼠来嗅之，啾啾如悼息，衔之而去。友人张历友为作《义鼠行》。
Yang Tianyi told this. He once saw two rats come out, and one of them was swallowed by a snake. The other glared with eyes like peppercorns. It seemed full of hatred and rage, but it only watched from a distance and dared not come near. Its belly full, the snake wound its way into its hole. When it was halfway in, the rat ran up and bit its tail hard. The snake, enraged, backed out. The rat was nimble, and in a flash it was gone. The snake could not catch it and turned back. As soon as it went into the hole, the rat came again and bit it as before. When the snake went in, the rat came; when the snake came out, the rat ran off. This went on a long time. At last the snake came out and spat the dead rat onto the ground. The rat came up and sniffed it, squeaking as if in mourning, then took it in its mouth and carried it away. My friend Zhang Liyou wrote a poem about it, “The Ballad of the Righteous Rat.”