Sacrificial address offered to the Eastern and Western Peaks of Gyeongju (慶州)慶州東西兩岳祭文
云云。嗚戱。以國不幸。逆賊崛起。然非特國之不幸。亦神之恥。非唯恥爾。神之不幸亦至矣。何者。國以我神威靈可倚。故崇以大王之號。饗以春秋之祀。所冀者鎭衛國家。屝惡興利。如是而已耳。脫上國有不利。四方將有事。神威听及。無有遠邇。宜以陰靈遏絶禍始。何况雞林之舊邦。實大王所食之地。孽徒肆虐。聚黨如蟻。亂紀逆常。違命棄義。神若有靈。理宜柅止。夫何不然。使至於此。嗟乎。國家平昔事神之功。大王所以鎭國之意。安所置耶。若爾而神不恥歟。設使其民偸延年紀。馨其黍稷。豐厥牲胔。勤事大王。無所不備。以我大王之正直。當不享不義之祀。况其罪惡。天地所棄。宜當斬戮之誅。寧保須臾之齒。若一旦邑滅人亡。祠宇荒圮。則大王獨何憑而有恃。國亦以大王有何功力。而割玉帛之枉費耶。彼此乏祀。羈遊無寄。是所謂神之不幸也。爲大王之計者。孰若俾我官軍擒滅渠帥。餘悉原之。驅于耒耜。使煙火不絶。與昔無異。則大王血食。永永無旣。豈不喜哉。神其諒之。副予所冀。
And so forth. Alas, the kingdom has been unfortunate, and defiant brigands have risen up tall. Yet it is not the kingdom's misfortune only; it is also the god's shame. And not his shame only: the god's own misfortune has come upon him too.
Why is it so? The kingdom thought the majestic spirit of our god worth leaning upon, and therefore exalted him with the name of Great King and had him savor the sacrifices of spring and autumn. What it looked for was this and no more: that he hold down and guard the kingdom, and drive off what is evil and raise up what is profitable.
If there is some matter unprofitable to the upper kingdom, and business arises in the four quarters, then, since there is no far or near in the reach of the god's majesty, he ought with his hidden spirit to block and cut off the beginning of calamity. How much the more, since the old kingdom of Gyerim (雞林) is truly the land where the Great King receives his sacrifices. A wicked crowd has turned harsh and gathered in throngs like ants, confounding the bonds and defying what is constant, defying the command and casting righteousness away. If the god has numinous power, then by reason he ought to have blocked them and made them stop; how is it that he did not, and let it come to this?
Alas, where then are laid the merit of the kingdom's serving the god in ordinary times, and the Great King's own intent to hold down and guard the kingdom? And is the god not ashamed even so?
Though those people should eke out their lives and make the fragrance of their grain offerings sweet and their victims ample, and serve the Great King diligently with nothing left unprovided, yet by the straightness and rightness of our Great King he ought not to receive an unrighteous sacrifice. How much the more since their crimes are what heaven and earth cast off, and they ought to receive the punishment of being cut down and killed; how then should they keep their lives even for a moment?
If in a single morning the district is gone and its people vanished and the shrine grown rank and fallen in, upon what will the Great King alone lean, that he should have any trust? And what merit would the kingdom reckon the Great King to have, that it should cut off jade and silk and offer them up in vain? On this side and on that the sacrifices would be cut off, and he would wander with nowhere to attach himself: this is what is called the god's misfortune.
As a plan on the Great King's behalf there is nothing like this: to let our government troops take and destroy the ringleaders and pardon all the rest and send them back to farming, so that the smoke of their cooking is never cut off and all is as it was of old. Then the Great King's sacrifices will go on for ever and ever without end; and how should that not be a joy?
Let the god reckon upon this, and help me in that which I pray for.