Singing of Fear畏賦
有獨觀處士。杜門端居。常若有畏。顧形而畏。顧影而畏。擧手動足。無一不畏。冲默先生造焉。問其所以。處士曰。堪輿之內。物孰無畏。戴角揷牙。翼翍足趡。蠕蠕蠢蠢。厥種繁熾。慳生嗇命。各讋非類。鳥畏鷹於天。魚畏獺於水。兔畏獹。狼畏兕。鹿脅于𤠾。蛇𢥠愯于豕。猛莫猛兮虎豹。遇狻猊而奔避。何玆類之孔多兮。羌難覼縷而備記。物固然矣。人亦有焉。莫尊者君。猶畏上天。祇栗齊肅。夙夜以虔。惟君惟臣。若堂陛然。由陛及地。窊崇亦懸。卑者畏高。後者畏先。揆尺計寸。莫不畏旃。胡世路之嶮嶬兮。紛理緖之倒顚。冠苴履兮在底。甈先鼎兮居前。跛驢踸踔兮將白蟻共軛。犨麋𥉺𥅧兮與子都同筵。下慢而凌上。佞近而踈賢。鑽皮之謗日熾。射影之毒遐羶。矧予瑣屑之微質兮。跡有衆之攸寰。彼巧我拙。我一彼千。踏地生梗。皆成畏途。苟縱驅而不懼兮。殆十步而九擠。懍乎𭟙乎。能不畏乎。吾將介立高蹈。背耦離徒。遊乎壙埌之墟。子以爲何如。冲默先生傲然憑几而笑曰。僕則異於是。上天之威。吾不畏矣。萬乘之貴。吾不畏矣。暴客攘臂。吾不畏矣。猛虎切齒。吾不畏矣。言未旣。處士愕然起曰。過矣。子之不自揆也。何談之容易哉。於皇上帝降監善惡。設或震怒。雷霆暴作。烈風間之。飛沙走石。盲海聾山。激薄忽霍。電刃所掣。遺光儵爚。劃若天裂。剨似地拆。擊六丁以增威。雖周成猶褫魄。皆失匕以罔圖。孰倚柱而自若。是上天之威赫赫也。子言無畏。何也。先生曰。守正不欺。則天不吾威。吾何畏于玆。處士曰。金床晃晃。幄座密勿。嚴更巡于徼道。羽林列於雙闕。參旗井鉞。出警入蹕。左憲臺兮凜鐵冠。右執法兮秉丹筆。肅肅詻詻。百辟咸秩。於是振雪霜於威怒。馳風雷於咄叱。一有不恪。族赤禍溢。是天子之威栗栗也。子亦無畏耶。先生曰。夫君尊臣卑。勢若冠屨。居下事上。趨蹌中矩。望則跽脚。拜則頓首。聞命益僂。當局善守。若此則君何威爲。臣何畏有。處士曰。若夫賁育之輩。怒而狼顧。一啑一㖃。風激雲騖。白日刺人。血流市路。餘威未渫。飛揚跋扈。目欲裂兮星逬。髮直衝兮棘竪。足踏虎兮截皮。手拉熊兮裂股。小項莊之劒舞。卑藺生之睨柱。此刺客之強暴也。子亦無畏耶。先生曰。唾面待乾。出胯俛就。虛心而行乎世。我不彼忤。彼何自怒哉。此亦無足畏也。處士曰。乳虎出穴。擇肉䑛血。淬牙磨爪。其聲鎗䶪。一嘯兮風生。一䂄兮電瞥。不翼而飛。萬里一輟。雖馮婦之善搏。亦神喪而氣奪。此猛虎之咆勃也。子其何如。先生曰。有挾有設。此不足愕也。處士曰。然則子之所畏。果何物乎。有乎無乎。先生曰。僕亦安得而無乎。僕之所畏。不在諸物。特關於己。俯頷戴鼻。中齟外哆。一闔一闢。維門之似。物入由是。聲出由是。誠不可不有。而亦不可不畏之地也。銘可鑑兮金緘口。詩可觀兮垣屬耳。一語一默。榮辱所自。食其以之而烹。伍被以之而死。禰衡以之而敗身。灌夫以之而棄市。是以。聖人不畏於人。唯畏於口。苟愼其口。於行世乎何有。今處士騁舌吐辭。鋒攢屑霏。談世路之嶮易。議人間之是非。誠辯則辯矣。奇而又奇。然口能覆身。言出禍隨。子以此求免於時。亦猶擊鼓而求亡者也。其何益於迅馳哉。僕竊笑處士聲其畏而實無有也。惡其禍而祇自招之。處士聞之。避席逡巡。聳然作貌曰。小子不肖。今聞先生之敎。曉然若披肓而見大曜也。
There was a Hermit of Solitary Beholding (獨觀處士) who shut his gate and sat upright, and always seemed to be in fear of something. He looked back at his own body and was afraid, he looked back at his shadow and was afraid, and in lifting a hand or shifting a foot there was not one thing he did not fear. Master Chungmuk (冲默先生) went to him and asked the reason, and the hermit said: 「Within heaven and earth, what thing is there that is without fear? Those that bear horns and those that set in their tusks, those that beat wings and those that run on feet, those that writhe and those that champ — their kinds are without number. Clinging to life and holding their breath dear, each one dreads what is not of its own tribe. The bird in the sky fears the hawk; the fish in the water fears the otter. The hare fears the hound; the wolf fears the one-horned ox. The deer is caught in the flank by the jackal, and the snake dreads the pig. For fierceness nothing equals the tiger and the leopard, yet meeting a lion they run and get away. How is it that there are so many such kinds? It is hard to set them all down one by one. It is so with the beasts by nature, and it is so among men as well. The highest of all is the king, yet even he fears Heaven, and is careful and trembles and orders his person, reverent by night and by day. Lord and minister are as the hall and its stone steps. From the steps down to the ground, low and high are likewise set in tiers; the lower fears the higher and the one who stands behind fears the one in front, so that there is no one who does not measure the foot and the inch of it and be afraid. Why is it that the way of the world is so steep, and its tangled turnings so overthrown? The hat is wrapped in the shoe and laid underneath, and the cracked vessel sits in a place before the cauldron. The limping donkey bears the yoke together with the white ant, and the ugly man with not a sound eye in his head shares a seat with Jado (子都). Those below are slack and look over those above; the flatterer is near and the worthy man grows distant. Slander that pierces the hide waxes by the day, and venom that shoots at a shadow stinks far off. How much more I, who with a petty and lowly substance have set my traces where the crowd lives. They are gifted and I am clumsy; I am one and they are a thousand. When I tread the ground thorns spring up, and it all becomes a road to be feared. If I were to run as I pleased and not be afraid, in ten steps I would fall nine times. Fearful, fearful it is. Can one not be afraid? I wish to stand alone and tread high, to turn my back on my mate and leave the crowd, and to roam in the empty field. How do you see it?」 Master Chungmuk leaned haughtily on his armrest and said with a laugh: 「I am other than he. The majesty of Heaven I do not fear; the honor of ten thousand chariots (萬乘) I do not fear; the fierce man who bares his arm I do not fear; the savage tiger that grinds its teeth I do not fear.」 Before the words were done the hermit started up in astonishment and said: 「You go too far. How little you measure yourself! How can you speak so lightly? Ah, when the Lord on High (上帝) comes down and looks into good and evil, if he is roused to anger the thunder rises in fury and a harsh wind breaks in, flinging the sand and rolling the stones, blinding the sea and deafening the mountain, striking and driving all in an instant. Where the blade of the lightning passes the leftover glare flashes out, as though the sky were splitting and the earth bursting open. When he strikes the Six Jeong (六丁) and adds to his majesty, even King Seong (成王) of Zhou was still bereft of his wits. All of them dropped their spoons and did not know what to do; who then would lean on a pillar at his ease? This is the blazing out of Heaven's majesty. You say you are not afraid — how can that be?」 The Master said: 「If one keeps to what is upright and does not deceive, then Heaven does not work its majesty upon me; and so for what cause should I fear it?」 The hermit said: 「The golden stool gleams and the place within the curtains is kept close. The stern night watch goes its round of the patrol, and the Feathered Forest Guard (羽林軍) is drawn up at the two palace gates. The Samgi and Jeongwol standards (參旗·井鉞) are raised; the road is cleared when he goes out and barred when he comes in. On the left the Censorate (憲臺) wears its iron cap and stands dauntless; on the right the Keeper of the Law (執法) holds the vermilion brush. Grave and upright they are, and the whole body of officials keeps its order. Then, when majesty is angered and shakes out snow and frost, and the voice of rebuke runs with wind and thunder, whoever has once failed in care, his kindred die and the calamity overflows. This is the fearfulness of the Son of Heaven's majesty. Are you too not afraid?」 The Master said: 「Now the lord is high and the minister low, and their posture is as the hat and the shoe. Being below, one serves what is above: one's short quick steps keep to the rule, one kneels when one looks up and bows the head to the ground when one does obeisance, and on hearing a command one bends the body the lower and keeps well the post entrusted to one. If it is thus, what majesty would the lord work, and what would the minister fear?」 The hermit said: 「Such men as Maengbun (孟賁) and Hayuk (夏育), when their anger rises, look about them like wolves. At one champing of the jaw and one roar the wind rises and the clouds run. In broad day they stab a man and the blood runs in the marketplace, and the leftover fury does not leave them, so that they rage and do as they please. Their eyes are as though they would tear open and the stars fly out of them; their hair stands straight up and bristles like thorns. With a foot they tread on a tiger and break its hide; with a hand they drag a bear and tear off its leg. They make little of Hangjang's (項莊) sword dance and count low the glaring at the pillar of In Sangyeo (藺相如). This is the fierceness of the assassin. Are you too not afraid?」 The Master said: 「If a man spits in my face, I wait for it to dry; if he bids me go out between his legs, I bend my body and go. I empty my heart and walk the world; since I do not cross him, for what cause should he be angered? This too is not a thing to fear.」 The hermit said: 「The tigress with her cubs comes out of the den, picks out the flesh and licks the blood, whets her teeth and sharpens her claws. Her voice rings out, and at one howl the wind rises, at one cry the lightning passes. Without wings she flies, and goes ten thousand li at a single run. Pungbu (馮婦) is said to have been good at beating them down, yet even he was bereft of his wits and his spirit broke. This is the growling of the savage tiger. How is it with you?」 The Master said: 「There is that which is held in and that which is made ready, and so this is not a thing to be startled at.」 The hermit said: 「Then what, after all, is the thing you fear? Is there such a thing, or is there not?」 The Master said: 「How should I too be without one? What I fear does not lie in the many things, but hangs upon myself alone. With the chin set below and the nose borne above it, within it goes awry and without it opens wide, and closing once and opening once it is like a gate. Things come in by this way and sounds go out by this way; truly one cannot be without it, and yet it is a place one cannot but fear. An inscription (銘) has a word to take warning by: 「Seal the mouth with iron」; and a poem (詩) has a word worth looking at: 「The wall has ears set in it.」 From one word spoken and one silence kept come glory and disgrace. By this Yeogigi (酈食其) was boiled and Opi (伍被) was put to death; by this Hyeongyeong (禰衡) undid himself and Gwanbu (灌夫) was cast out in the marketplace. Therefore the sage does not fear men, but fears the mouth alone. If one is truly careful of that mouth, what hardship is there in going through the world? Now the hermit, plying his tongue and letting out words, is as though swordpoints were gathering and filings flying about. You speak of the steepness and the ease of the world's road and judge the right and the wrong between men, and you are indeed good at speaking. Strange it is, and strange again. Yet the mouth can overturn the body, and when the word comes out calamity follows. You would be quit of the age by this very means, and that is like beating a drum while hunting for the man who has run away. What help is it toward running fast? I laugh in secret that the hermit cries out that he is afraid and is in truth without fear, and that he hates calamity while merely calling it upon himself.」 The hermit heard this, drew back from his seat and hesitated, then straightened his body and changed his countenance and said: 「Your little one was a fool. Now that I have heard the Master's teaching, it is bright as though I had opened the lids of my eyes and seen the great sun.」
Interlinear notes 1
甈音五列反
The sound of 甈 is given by the fanqie of 五 and 列.