搖尾乞憐

From a letter by Han Yu to Wei, about whom little is known, in the hope of obtaining his recommendation before attending the imperial examination:

然是物也，負其異於眾也，且曰：爛死於沙泥，吾寧樂之；若俛首帖耳，搖尾而乞憐者，非我之志也。是以有力者遇之，熟視之若無睹也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

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然是物也，负其异于众也，且曰：烂死于沙泥，吾宁乐之；若俯首帖耳，摇尾而乞怜者，非我之志也。是以有力者遇之，熟视之若无睹也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: 793, 韓愈,《應科目時與人書》

Rán shì wù yě, fù qí yìyú zhòng yě, qiě yuē: làn sǐ yú shā ní, wú nìng lè zhī; ruò fǔshǒutiē'ěr, yáowěi ér qǐlián zhě, fēi wǒ zhī zhì yě. Shìyǐ yǒulì zhě yù zhī, shúshì zhī ruò wú dǔ yě. [Pinyin]

But the creature, proud of being different from other creatures, says, "I prefer to die and decay in the sand and mud, which to me is a pleasure, rather than bow my head, droop my ears, wag my tail, and beg for pity, which runs counter to my aspiration." Consequently, later, when somebody passes by it, though knowing it well, he turns a blind eye to it.

Here, the author compared himself to a strange creature which is powerful in water but incapable of moving itself into water when stranded on land. Therefore, it may be necessary for a passer-by to help it out of trouble.

搖尾乞憐

1. to fawn obsequiously