A statement of thanks for the proclamation of comfort謝宣慰狀
1Comfort received after turning the army back
右宣慰使供奉官李從孟至。伏奉去年九月九日勑書手詔兼宣恩旨慰諭臣及將士等者。伏以感恩効命。武士常規。仗順摧兇。元戎素分。賊巢偶乘奸便。尙逭嚴誅。臣願膾彼逆鱗。臠其邪膽。掃重氛於魏闕。迎法駕於蜀都。是以。去年據馬援之鞍。敢矜獨勇。杖辛毗之鉞。親率諸軍。久在江干。再承天旨。不令離任。遂已班師。豈料伏蒙陛下念及老臣。撫玆衆卒。特迂星使。遠降泥封。綸傳萬乘之言。纖微不間。纊彼百夫之體。慰暖皆均。歡呼而聲已振雷。感泣而淚將成雨。唯期勵節。具願報恩。臣限守藩條。不獲稱謝行在。臣無任感戴榮抃戰懼之至。謹因供奉官李從孟廻。奉狀陳謝以聞。謹奏。
The above. Li Congmeng, palace attendant and commissioner for the proclamation of comfort, arrived, and your servant respectfully received the rescript and the edict in the emperor's own hand of the ninth day of the ninth month of last year, and with them the proclamation of the gracious purpose that comforted and instructed your servant and his officers and men. Your servant bows low and considers that to be moved by kindness and to offer up one's life is the constant rule of a fighting man, and that to hold to what is right and break the cruel is the plain duty of a commander in chief. The bandit Chao happened upon a crafty chance and has so far escaped the stern punishment, and your servant wished to slice that rebellious scale and mince his crooked gall, to sweep the piled baleful air from the Wei watchtowers and to meet the imperial carriage at the capital of Shu. And so last year he sat in Ma Yuan's saddle and dared to boast of his lone courage, and he leaned on Xin Pi's axe and led the several armies in person, and stayed long by the bank of the Jiang. But he received the will of heaven a second time, that he should not leave his post, and so he turned the army back. How should he have reckoned that Your Majesty would think of an old servant and soothe this crowd of soldiers, that you would turn a star envoy aside for him and send the sealed letter down from afar? The imperial word carried the speech of the lord of ten thousand chariots and left out not the least thing. The wadding covered the bodies of those hundred men, and comfort and warmth were shared out evenly among them all. They shouted for joy, and the sound already shook like thunder; they wept in their gratitude, and their tears are near to making rain. They look only to press on in constancy, and all of them wish to repay that kindness. Your servant is bound to the duties of his command and cannot give his thanks at the traveling court. Your servant cannot bear the utmost of his gratitude, of his glad clapping at this honor, and of his trembling fear. He respectfully sends up this statement by the return of Li Congmeng, palace attendant, to set forth his thanks and make it heard. Respectfully submitted.