Presented to Duke Jinyang上晉陽公
僕本無立錐之田。唯仰俸祿。祿亦稀及。連致在陳。老物無用。無處得炭。連致凍縮。方此之時。忽蒙惠送白粲白炭。遣親所使令近竪。押來到門。閭巷之觀者。莫不嘆羨。此亦稀有之榮觀也。感極涕零。因作謝詩一首奉呈。
I have never owned so much as a field to stick an awl in, and looked only to my stipend; but even the stipend came rarely, until I was brought one time after another to the point of running out of grain. This old body is of no use, and having nowhere to get charcoal, I was left shivering with cold again and again.
Just at this time I suddenly received the kindness of a gift of white rice and white charcoal. You yourself sent one of the boys of your close service to have it carted to my gate, and of those in the village who saw it there was not one who did not marvel and envy. This too was a rare and glorious sight.
My gratitude was so deep that tears fell, and so I have made one poem of thanks and offer it up.
Interlinear notes 1
幷序
With a preface.
別作天開雨露恩。忽加珍賜到閑門。里人大嚼塡街見。衆馬交嘶滿路喧。炭玉苫苫堆可仰。米珠石石重難掀。僮奴喜笑聲先飽。妻子環觀面已溫。始也過顚心似失。翻然靜念淚如噴。一生祝壽憑誰證。無盡虛空有佛存。
A separate heaven has opened and sent down kindness like rain and dew, suddenly adding a precious gift that has come to the gate of an idle house. The villagers stare open-mouthed, crowding the street to look, and the horses whinny in turn, filling the road with their clamor. The charcoal, like jade, is piled layer on layer, a thing to look up at; the rice, like pearls, is heavy by the sackful, hard to lift. The menservants laugh for joy, their bellies full at the very sound of it, and wife and children stand round looking on, their faces already warm. At first I was so glad that I seemed to lose my wits, then of a sudden, thinking quietly, tears seemed to spurt from me. To whom shall I prove that I pray for your long life all my days? In the boundless void the Buddha is there.