On Pulling Down the Earth House壞土室說
十月初吉。李子自外還。兒子輩鑿土作廬。其形如墳。李子佯愚曰。何故作墳於家。兒子輩曰。此不是墳。乃土室也。曰。奚爲是耶。曰。冬月。宜藏花草瓜蓏。又宜婦女紡績者。雖盛寒之月。溫然若春氣。手不凍裂。是可快也。李子益怒曰。夏熱冬寒。四時之常數也。苟反是則爲怪異。古聖人所制。寒而裘。暑而褐。其備亦足矣。又更營土室。反寒爲燠。是謂逆天令也。人非蛇蟾。冬伏窟穴。不祥莫大焉。紡績自有時。何必於冬歟。又春榮冬悴。草木之常性。苟反是。亦乖物也。養乖物爲不時之翫。是奪天權也。此皆非予之志。汝不速壞。吾笞汝不赦也。兒子等𢥠懼亟撤之。以其材備炊薪。然後心方安也。
On the first day of the tenth month Master Yi (李子) came back from outside, and his children had dug out earth and built a house, its shape like a grave mound. Master Yi, feigning dullness, said, 「For what reason have you made a grave in the house?」 The children said, 「This is not a grave; it is an earth house.」 「What will you use it for?」 「In the winter months it is fit for storing flowers and grasses, cucumbers and melons, and it is fit as well for the women's spinning and weaving. However deep the cold of the month, it is warm as the air of spring, so the hands do not freeze and crack — this is what makes it pleasant.」
Master Yi grew the more angry and said, 「Heat in summer and cold in winter are the constant measure of the four seasons. If this is turned about, it becomes a monstrous thing. What the sages of old appointed is that in cold one wears furs and in heat coarse cloth, and this provision too is ample. Yet you go further and build an earth house, turning cold into warmth: this is called defying the ordinance of Heaven. Man is not a snake or a toad, and yet in winter you crouch in a burrow — there is nothing more unlucky than this. Spinning and weaving have their own season; why must it be in winter? And to flourish in spring and wither in winter is the constant nature of plants and trees. If this is turned about, it is a warping of things as well. To rear warped things and make of them a plaything out of season is to seize the authority of Heaven. None of this is my will. If you do not pull it down at once, I will flog you and not forgive it.」
The children, frightened, cleared it away in haste, and used its timbers for firewood. Only then was the heart at last at ease.