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Memorial of thanks from the Princess for the flowers and wine bestowed when the sovereign came forth to the hall公主謝御殿宣花酒表

Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) 東國李相國集 · Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 1 passages · 117 Chinese characters · reading time 1.3 min

Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 30 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.

妾某云云。使星忽降。恩雨隨霑。顧光華之實多。在庸陋而奚稱。伏念妾植根瓊苑。飮粹瑤津。自省孱微。乏周室王姬之美。遽蒙眷愛。叨漢家公主之稱。方顯冊之來宣。有嘉賓而式宴。豈謂聖上陛下雲霄降命。花酒侑歡。眞四照之仙葩。實九霞之濃液。爲榮莫大。增萬目之聳觀。祝壽無疆。指一心而自誓。云云。

Your handmaid So-and-so, and so forth. The star of the envoy has suddenly come down, and the rain of grace follows after and wets me. Looking back, the brilliance and splendor are indeed much; how should they match a body mean and shabby?

Prostrate, I consider that your handmaid struck root in a garden of gems and drank what was clear at a ford of jade. Looking into my own frailty and meanness, I want the beauty of the Wangji (王姬) of Zhou; yet suddenly visited with regard and favor, I presumed to obtain the name of a princess of Han.

At the time when the declared patent came and was unfolded, there were fair guests and a feast was spread. How could I have thought that Your Majesty the Holy Sovereign would send down a command from the high heaven and help the joy with flowers and wine? Truly they are immortals' flowers that light up the four quarters, and indeed a thick wine like the nine glows of sunset.

No glory is greater than this, and it adds a sight that rises up before the eyes of the many; and so I pray for a span without end and, pointing to my single heart, swear it of myself.

Interlinear notes 1

中謝。

Here the words of thanks (中謝) are inserted.

‹ Report of thanks submitted by the Princess to the Queen's PalaceContentsMemorial of thanks from the Princess for the bounty bestowed when the sovereign came forth to the hall ›Listen to this piece