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第一節 實力盡職
王善人鳳儀在幼年時，雖然家裡有些山坡地，因為缺少糞土可充當肥料，打的糧也很少，在十四歲那年，就給族兄王樹德家放牛。每天除了上山把牛放飽，飲好了水之外，也要很留意不可以叫牛吃了人家的青苗。又經常看到其他的牧童把牛或者羊就圈圍在一個地方，也不管青草的好壞，更不問牛羊是否吃飽，若是一有跑出圈的，就拼命毒打，甚至於有把牛打斷腿的，有的牛受了傷，傷口就化膿長蛆的，也有吃不飽而生病死的，或者牛以強淩弱互相給牴傷了。
王善人看見這種種的情形，非常地痛心，不和其他放牛的在一起放，於是乎專找草好的地方去放。給牛飲水時，飲完了水不叫牛跑，怕牛會喘而生了病。寒冬時，晚上就把小牛犢抱到夥房（工人住的寮房）炕上，怕牠凍死。因此所放的牛都長得很肥胖，毛色油光水滑的。所以在二年牧牛的期間，從來沒有傷到任何一頭牛，也不會讓牛受到任何的傷害。王善人常告訴其他牧童說：「因為有牛有羊，東家（僱主）才給我們飯吃，我若是不細心愛護，讓牛羊吃得肥胖，也生得很多小牛犢，這豈不是太沒有良心了。」
每天除了入山牧牛外，還得洗碗，餵豬、狗、雞、鴨，並且必須關好雞籠架和豬圈圍的門。晚上也得燒好這十二鋪火炕（北方氣候嚴寒，寢食起居都在泥坯砌成的炕上，下面有孔道，可以燒火，以取其煖），在這時候必須留意哪一鋪炕，犯什麼風，颳什麼風的時候就要倒煙，隨時應變。在冬天較暖和時，每次鋪炕，就燒兩小捆的高粱桿，較寒時，要燒大捆；尤其老人所住的炕，是燒大捆的，燒完了炕，把燒火門堵住，不讓冷風吹進炕洞裡，如此能保住煖氣。凡是東家所吩咐的事，都盡心竭力去做，風雨也照常工作，不會讓東家分心，所以東家對他非常滿意。
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Section One. He Fulfilled His Responsibility
Good Man Wang's family owned some land by the hillside in his younger days. But due to insufficient manure, the harvest was poor. So, when he was fourteen, he worked as a cowherd for his cousin Wang Su-Te. Everyday, he led the cow up the mountain to graze in the pasture, making sure it did not munch the neighboring farmer's crops. He often noticed the other cowherds driving their cattle into a confined area. They did not care if the vegetation was lush or if the cows had enough to eat. If a cow or sheep strayed, they would beat it severely, sometimes even breaking its leg. Sometimes the animal's wounds would fester with maggots. Those that did not get enough to eat would fall ill or die. The strong ones sometimes attacked the weak ones with their horns.
Deeply pained by what he saw, Good Man Wang did not take his cow to where the other cowherds were. After his cow had drunk water, he would not let it trot around lest it get short of breath and fall ill. In the bitter winter, he would bring the calf into the caretaker's room at night to keep it from freezing to death. The cattle he watched over all grew stout, with lustrous and smooth hair as lustrous as oil and as smooth as water. During his two years as a cowherd, he did not harm a single cow nor let them injure themselves. Good Man Wang often admonished the other cowherds saying, 'We have been allowed to make a living on account of these cattle and sheep. If we do not raise and feed them well, so that they grow plump and multiply, are we not without conscience?'
Apart from ascending the highlands to tend cattle, he also raised pigs, dogs, chickens and ducks. Everyday he would securely latch the chickencoop and pigsty, and at night he would warm up twelve brick beds. (In the severe cold of northern China, people slept, ate and lived on beds of brick. Tubes running beneath the beds allowed one to start a fire to keep warm.) For each bed, he had to observe the direction of the draft because it could sometimes cause an inversion. When the winters were warm, each brick bed required two small bundles of sorghum stems, or one large bundle for elderly folk. After burning enough sorghum stems, he would close the opening to keep the warm air inside and the cold draft outside. Whatever task his employer gave him, he would do his best to carry it out, continuing to toil even in times of wind or rain. His employer was very pleased with him for he never caused the employer to worry.
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