A Letter in Reply to Yi Yunbo (李允甫)答李允甫手書
某啓。辱書敎。并示古賦一首古詩十首。噫。風雅楚詞不作久矣。不意復見於今矣。非惟格韻警絶。其所諷興。足以激時俗反之正者已。僕短於文。不爲時所推許。雖後生莫有袖其文而來贄者。足下於僕。頗有一日之長。可謂先輩也。過自貶損。垂示所著。以至求相磨琢。是何卑遜下人若是之多耶。足下之辭。較古人罕比。僕得見爲榮。更敢磨琢之是冀耶。來敎。又推褒大過。兼及玉堂高步之語。此亦非僕所敢當也。僕曩在全州幕府。緣愚暗不更事變。徒以己之無益之淸。凌侮長官爭公事忤意。每掁觸虎尾。反爲讒搆所中。自入洛來。率杜門不出。謝絶交遊。圖全身尙不暇。又敢望仕宦高選之地耶。夫官署。非以自高。以人而高耳。凡稱翰林曰玉堂。或號紅綃署者。蓋以才賢之所翔集。侈其名以寵之也。若以僕充此選。則夫所謂玉堂者。得不愧其名耶。如僕假得一馬曹。亦足矣。何必玉堂哉。詩曰。豈其食魚。必河之魴。蓋此意也。請勿以非分之語及之。惶恐。不宣頓首。
So-and-so states. You have sent me a letter, and with it shown me one piece in the old rhapsody (古賦) manner and ten poems in the old style.
Ah, it is long since writings like the Airs (風), the Odes (雅) and the Songs of Chu (楚辭) have been made, and beyond all expectation I see them again today. Not only are the mode and the savor of them outstanding; the intent with which they satirize and rouse is amply able to shake the manners of the age and turn them back toward the right.
I am slight in letters and win no recognition from the world. Even among those who come after me there is none who puts his writing in his sleeve, brings it to me to show, and asks for instruction. Your Honor is a good deal older than I and may well be called my elder. Yet you have lowered yourself to excess, shown me what you have written, and gone so far as to seek that we grind and polish one another. How many are the ways in which you abase yourself and stand below others!
Your Honor's writing, set beside the men of old, has few to match it. For me it is honor enough to have been allowed to see it — shall I again presume to hope to grind and polish it for you?
In the letter you sent you also praised me beyond measure, and even said that I should climb high to the Hall of Jade (玉堂). This too is not what I dare bear.
In former days, when I was in the headquarters at Jeonju (全州), I was foolish and dark and had passed through none of the turns of affairs; trusting only in my own purity, which profited nothing, I made light of my superior, contended over official business, and crossed his will. I was forever touching the tiger's tail, and in return I was struck by slander and entangling words. Since entering the capital I have for the most part kept my gate shut, not going out, and have broken off my acquaintance. I have no leisure even for contriving to keep my person whole — shall I then dare hope for one of the high and chosen offices?
Now an office is not of itself lofty; it becomes lofty only through the men in it. That the Hallim is called the Hall of Jade, and sometimes the Office of Red Silk (紅綃署), is because it is the place where men of talent and worth come flying together, so that its name is magnified and praised. If I were to fill such a seat, would what is called the Hall of Jade not be shamed in its name?
For a man like me, to get but one post in charge of the horses would be enough. Why must it be the Hall of Jade? The Book of Songs says: 「Why, to eat fish, must it be the bream of the Yellow River?」 — such, in sum, is this meaning. I beg you not to speak words beyond my measure. I am afraid. Here I break off and bow my head to the ground.