On the Seventeenth Day of the Fifth Month My Four Disciples Sent Replies to the Poem Above, So I Set Out Wine and Drank with Them, and There and Then Gave Them Two More Poems in Reply五月十七日。四門生等和前詩來貺。置酒與飮。卽席復和二首贈之。
前後飛揚四牓人。天然自作鴈行親。豈無他日皆超捷。同出吾門是宿因。折簡招邀遮老漢。肆筵迎迓似嘉賓。滿盃瓊液觴中露。一笛梅花意外春。更荷淸詩千百鍊。欲甞深味再三巡。珠探鮫室穿何妙。錦奪龍梭織轉新。聞說當時喧物議。盡從汝輩出名臣。鸞臺鳳閣無多級。但向雲梯擧足頻。
Men of four examination lists (榜), who soared up one after another, have grown close of themselves, like wild geese in rank. How should you not all leap beyond and rise in days to come? That you came out of my school together is an old bond. You sent a note to summon this old man, and spread the mats to receive me as an honoured guest. The jewel-like wine filling the cup is dew within the cup, and one tune on the flute, "Falling Plum Blossom," is an unlooked-for spring. Besides, I have received clear poems polished a hundred and a thousand times, and I would taste their deep savour two or three times over. You sought pearls in the chamber of the shark-folk (鮫人) and strung them — how wondrous! You snatched the dragon's shuttle to weave your brocade, and it grows newer still. I hear that at that time the talk of the crowd was loud, all saying that famed ministers would come from among you. The Luan Terrace (鸞臺) and the Phoenix Pavilion (鳳閣) are but a few steps away, so only keep moving your feet often toward the cloud ladder.
當初爲國選賢人。漸作私田及己親。片玉不遺搜盡取。良金未害積相因。我今踈散同殘物。誰復招迎齒大賓。獨也爾曹猶記舊。欲於老境特迴春。滿斟仙酒爭爲壽。願閱天年不算巡。耳冷忽驚絲竹隱。眼寒未慣綺羅新。心知已欠瓊琚報。口祝唯期鼎鼐臣。兄躍弟隨俱遠到。及予身在得看頻。
At first they chose worthy men for the sake of the state, but little by little they made it their own field, reaching even to their own intimates. They search out even fragments of jade and gather them all, leaving none, and good iron, heaped and linked one to another, does no harm. I am now like a leftover thing, sparse and scattered; who would call me again and receive me as a great guest? Only you still remember the old days, and in my late years would turn spring back to me on purpose. Pouring immortals' wine full, you vie in offering toasts, praying without counting the cups that I may enjoy the years Heaven gave. My ears smart, and I start suddenly at the sound of music; my eyes smart, unaccustomed to new silk robes. In my heart I know that my jewel-like repayment falls short, yet with my mouth I only pray that you become chief ministers. If the elder leaps the younger will follow, and all will reach far, so may I see you often while this body of mine is still alive.