牯护院 Bullguard
赫赫扬扬，身高过丈。
腰悬甲沉，手持戟长。
其神凶恶，其目呆光。
若愚若智，糊涂模样。
Majestic of height, he looms with might,
In heavy armor, ready to fight.
His eyes-a fearsome, vacant lot,
A sage or fool, we know not.
山门使，是个吃力不讨好的活。牯护院在这个差事上呆了百余年，从没升迁过。但他对此事从无抱怨，只因他十分敬慕大王，而大王又常常赏赐他丹药，他便十分满足。他将丹药供奉在一个金添的花梨木匣儿里，匣内垫着锦绒的衬布。每次服药，还会净手漱口，烧高香，敬天地。山中实则有许多小妖都得过大王赏的丹药，但全然不如牯护院般谨小慎微。
一日，有小妖问牯护院道:“你每日守山这般劳累，如何还能龙精虎猛?”牯护院诚实道:“俺是因为服了大王的丹药，这才觉得气力不竭，你们也可多服些，便如我一般了。”那小妖道:“我们也吃过，但大家都觉得没效果，这才疑惑为何你的这般有效。该不会是大王给你的，比给我们的好吧?”那护院惊讶道:“都是由护法一同发放的，怎还能分得出个你我?”那小妖仍是不信，非要与牯护院换上几颗丹药才罢。互换丹药后，小妖仍觉无效，而牯护院依然龙精虎猛。
咦，人人都说这就是:“傻人有傻福。”但这或许并非不够聪明带来的补偿，而是痴狂的崇仰，为那护院带来的力量。
Being the gatekeeper of the mountain was a thankless task indeed. For more than a century, Bullguard stood watch, never once climbing the ranks. Yet he voiced no grievances, for his devotion to the king as his sole concern, and the king's pills, his only desire. he treasured those pills within a lacquered box of pear wood, lined with silk. Each time he partook of them, he performed a ritual: a process of cleansing, rinsing, and offering incense to the universe, thanking it for its gifts. Many a lesser guai had tasted the king's rewards, but none with such reverence as Bullguard.
One day, a curious guai inquired, "How do you maintain such vigor despite the toils of this job?" With earnest simplicity, Bullguard replied, "It is the king's pill that fuels me. Take more, and you shall be as I am." The guai confessed, "We've partaken in our share, yet felt nothing. Mayhaps the king's gifts to you are finer?" Bullguard was aghast, "From the same hand we are served, how could there be a 'mine' and 'yours'?" The guai still skeptical, insisted on an exchange of pills. Soon after, the guai felt no change, while Bullguard remained as robust as ever.
Some say, "A fool's luck", but perhaps it isn't a lack of wit that's compensated, but the power drawn from blind devotion.
