Report presented, on behalf of the same man, to the Envoy of the Horse Pasture (馬場)同前呈馬場使臣狀
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 · 92 Chinese characters · reading time 1 min
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 32 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.
The sovereign's envoy presides over us — who would not look up? A scholar-immortal has arrived, and our joy is doubly earnest. The songs in the streets are in truth as though they roused every household.
I humbly consider that Your Excellency of such-and-such office has a capacity like a great river and an inward nature like brocade. Loosing the reins on the high road, you early displayed a spirit that passes over the clouds; riding your carriage through many prefectures, you look over hooves that chase the sun. The case is as with sifting and choosing men of talent, so you will surely appraise them at court.
We, so-and-so and the rest, share the sovereign's cares in a small prefecture and await our punishment downwind. Looking up, we wait to behold the luster of the jade tree, and we respectfully receive the inquiries borne on your brocade paper.