A memorial of thanks for the stele raised for the wall built in Xichuan謝立西川築城碑表
1The building of the outer wall of Chengdu cut into stone
臣某言。伏奉十一月六日勑旨。以臣在任西川節度使日創築羅城。昨因有勑嘉獎。方進所賜碑詞。今已付所司鐫寫建立者。一片石文。龜初戴立。九重天語。鳳已銜來。雕銘莫繼於色絲。寵飾遽超於華衮。仰窺恩獎。俯抱憂惶。臣某誠感誠懼。頓首頓首。頃者幸夢三刀。久臨益部。遙提一劍。得挫蒙兵。但以其玉壘可稱。金城未設。山口則空呑蠻蜑。水頭則斜枕犍牂。含溪抱谷之形。雖云天險。比屋連甍之勢。實類野居。臣是以運度籌謀。斟量板築。蓋從人欲。果致子來。遂得役興而草偃川中。誠感而土生石上。長圍於三十六里。高鎭於百千萬年。不愧鐵名。可將錐試。隼墉烏堞。儼若騫飛。錦浪綿峯。迥然裝飾。遂蒙陛下辱褒稱之重。許刊勒之榮。以爲事實可觀。足得詞華不朽。臣雖遇泥封激賞。豈將油素矜誇。非敢彰謙。所期避謗。今者伏遇皇帝陛下遠巡勝槩。親覽微功。徵舊賜之碑詞。命新鐫之筆跡。永使卓立琴臺之境。平欺劍閣之銘。且杜元凱之峴亭。無非自衒。阮德規之齊國。蓋是衆成。謾傳身後之虛名。豈睹目前之盛事。曷若彩毫見獎。翠琰斯刊。因成下土之功。終應上天之意。得逢今日。別振孤風。向非陛下錄善恩深。酬勞德厚。則何以未有出師之業。篆刻叨榮。曾無興學之規。傳揚竊美。臣限拘鎭守。不獲稱謝行在。無任感戴欣躍戰懼之至。謹奉表陳謝以聞。臣某誠惶誠恐。頓首頓首謹言。
Your servant So-and-so speaks. Your servant respectfully received the imperial order of the sixth day of the eleventh month, which said: because your servant, in the days when he held the post of Military Commissioner of Xichuan, first built the outer wall, an earlier edict praised him for it, and when the text of the stele that had been bestowed was then presented, it has now been handed to the office in charge to be carved and written out and set up. A single slab of written stone, and the tortoise bears it up and it stands for the first time. The words of heaven from behind the ninefold gates, and the phoenix has already carried them here in its beak. The carved inscription cannot follow after the colored silk, and the adornment of your favor goes far beyond a splendid dragon robe. Looking up, your servant sees your grace and praise; looking down, he holds care and dread. Your servant So-and-so is truly moved and truly afraid, bowing his head to the ground, bowing his head to the ground. Not long ago he was fortunate in the dream of three blades and governed the region of Yi for a long time. Lifting a single sword from afar, he was able to break the troops of Meng. But though the place could be called Yulei, no wall of metal had yet been raised. The mouth of the mountains swallowed up the Man and the Dan to no purpose, and the head of the waters lay aslant with Qianzhou and Zangke for a pillow. The shape of the land, holding streams and clasping valleys, might be called a barrier made by heaven, but with houses standing close and roof ridges joined it was truly like living out in the fields. Your servant therefore weighed and planned, and measured out the boards and the rammed earth. He followed what the people wished, and they came to him indeed like sons. So when the work rose the grass bent low along the river, and when their sincerity moved heaven, earth grew upon the rocks. It runs around for thirty-six li and holds firm and high for a hundred thousand, ten thousand years. It does not shame the name of iron, and one may test it with an awl. The falcon walls and crow battlements stand grave, as though they would take wing. Brocade waves and unbroken peaks adorn it far around. Then Your Majesty stooped to give him the weight of your praise and allowed him the honor of an inscription cut in stone, holding that the fact of the matter was worth seeing and that the splendor of the words would not decay. Though your servant has met with praise under the clay seal, how should he boast of what is written on silk? He does not dare to make a show of modesty; he hopes only to keep clear of slander. Now Your Majesty, on a far progress among fine scenes, has looked in person at this small merit, called back the text of the stele bestowed before, and ordered new writing to be carved, so that it may stand forever in the land of the Zither Terrace and make light of the inscription at Jiange. Besides, the pavilion of Du Yuankai on Mount Xian was nothing but self-display, and what Ruan Degui did in the state of Qi was made by many hands. To hand down an empty name after one's death, how is that like seeing a great thing before one's eyes? How much better to be praised by the colored brush and cut into green jade. By finishing a work in the land below he has answered at last the will of heaven above, and meeting this day he raises a lone note of his own. Were it not that Your Majesty's grace in recording what is good runs deep and your virtue in repaying labor is generous, how could one with no achievement of leading out an army presume upon the honor of carved seal script, and one with no plan for raising up schools steal the beauty of having his name spread abroad? Your servant is held fast to the guarding of his garrison and cannot offer his thanks at your traveling palace. He cannot bear the utmost of his gratitude for your grace, of his joy and leaping, and of his trembling fear. He respectfully presents this memorial of thanks for Your Majesty's hearing. Your servant So-and-so is truly awed and truly afraid, bowing his head to the ground, bowing his head to the ground. Respectfully spoken.