Yetgeul › Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) › Former Collection, Book 4
The Rhinoceros Horn That Drives Off Cold辟寒犀
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 4 The collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and enlarged by his grandson Yi Ikbae in 1251. It holds poems and rhapsodies, memorials and reports sent up to the king, records written for temples and pagodas, stele and tomb inscriptions, letters and prefaces, and the state letters that passed to and from the Mongols during the invasions. The Lay of King Dongmyeong, which sings the founder of Goguryeo, stands in volume 3 of the first collection, and the daily life of a man who called himself the White Cloud Layman — with his wine, his zither and his verse — fills the later collection. The book closes with the last poem he wrote as his eyes failed and he laid down the brush, and with the dirge and tomb inscription others made for him after his death.
遺事云。交趾國進犀一株。使者請以金盤置於殿中。溫溫有暖氣襲人。上問其故。曰此辟寒犀也。上甚悅。厚賜之。
The Yishi says: The kingdom of Jiaozhi (交趾) offered a rhinoceros horn in tribute. The envoy asked that it be set on a golden tray and placed within the hall, and a warm air came over those present. When the Emperor asked the reason, he said, "This is a rhinoceros horn that drives off cold." The Emperor was greatly pleased and rewarded him richly.
羅綺香熏暖似春。君王猶愛辟寒珍。人間臘雪盈三尺。白屋那無凍死民。
Fragrance clings to the silken robes and the warmth is like spring, yet the sovereign still treasures a jewel that drives off cold. In the world of men the twelfth-month snow lies three feet deep — how should there be none in the white thatched huts freezing to death?