To Chief Minister Xiao Gou — the second蕭遘相公 第二
1Asking to be released from his post
伏以物忌太盛。器滿必傾。自古有言。至今爲誡。苟或不能知止。但欲貪榮。則有折鼎足之虞。炊劍頭之險。某每念遭逢聖運。紹續舊勳。北定羌戎。南征蠻蜑。東降齊盜。西建蜀城。高提三尺之權。粗展四方之志。然自煙塵聚孼。原野宿兵。曾無敦閱之全材。先叨統帥。詎有縱橫之令策。兼領利權。而乃不能首唱義聲。身先銳旅。戮奔鯨於海澤。逐猘犬於秦關。遽及火熾祠篝。塵驚御輦。遠聆巡幸。便議征行。但以每當誓衆之時卽奉止軍之詔。雖自始終勵節。其如進退失圖。華元興城者之謳。子産致國人之謗。乃有浙侯構隙。沛將加兵。三年已來。二憾不釋。蜩螗競噪。蚌鷸相譏。厚誣而巧弄舌端。顯奏而亂搖心曲。求刺舡而不暇。想投杼以難逃。伏賴相公照以秦臺。調之伊鼎。察邾公之愬鄭伯。解晉帝之疑石苞。免挂刑章。尙縻寵秩。旣蒙明洗。誠合淬磨。更修克己之心。永竭勤王之力。直以松筠不改。雖自保於堅貞。蒲柳先秋。遽已傷於衰暮。筋骸漸憊。志氣潛摧。縱欲自強。終憂不逮。今者幸遇上京已復。大駕則廻。麟鬪龍吟。固息興妖之慮。放牛歸馬。實迎偃武之期。某也旣在淸時。誠爲棄物。況縈沈痼。深負壯圖。攬鏡無憀。投簪是念。豈慕祈奚請老。尙處冗員。唯思范蠡愛閑。得行素意。乞解所職。自卜爲宜。伏惟相公選士惟賢。退人以禮。俯矜羸劣。特賜允從。雖慙未遂報恩。免更久爲尸祿。仰干陶冶。敬託牋毫。始知調急聲哀。唯愧詞窮理盡。伏惟俯賜恩鑑。
I humbly consider that things shun being too full, and that a vessel filled must tip over. There have been words to this effect since ancient times, and they are a warning still. If a man cannot know where to stop and only craves glory, there is the fear of breaking the cauldron's leg and the danger of cooking on a sword's point. I always think how I met with the sage fortune and carried on the old merits: settling the Qiang and the Rong in the north, marching against the Man and the Dan in the south, bringing the bandits of Qi to surrender in the east, and raising the walls of Shu in the west. I held high the power of the three-foot sword and roughly spread my will over the four quarters. But since the brood gathered in the smoke and dust and soldiers camped in the open fields, I have had none of the full ability that comes of careful drilling, and yet I took the post of commander before others. What fine strategy of the vertical and the horizontal had I, that I should hold the control of the state revenues as well? And so I could not be first to raise the righteous call, nor lead the sharp troops in person, nor kill the fleeing whale in the sea marsh, nor drive the mad dog from the Qin pass. Then suddenly the fire blazed in the shrine's cage and dust startled the imperial carriage. Hearing from afar of the royal progress, I at once discussed marching out. But each time I swore my men to the oath, I received an edict to halt the army. Though I strove to keep my honor from first to last, what could I do when advance and retreat had both lost their plan? Hua Yuan drew the song of the men who built the wall, and Zichan brought on the slander of the people of the state. Then the lord of Zhe made a breach with me and the general of Pei brought troops against me, and for three years now the two grudges have not been loosed. Cicadas and tree crickets vie in their noise, and the clam and the snipe mock each other. They slander me thickly and play cunningly with the tip of the tongue. They report openly and shake the folds of my heart in confusion. There is no leisure to seek out the boat and stab it, and when I think of the thrown shuttle, escape is hard. I humbly rely on the Chief Minister, who lit me with the mirror of the Qin terrace and blended me in the cauldron of Yi Yin, who looked into the lord of Zhu's complaint against the earl of Zheng and undid the Jin emperor's suspicion of Shi Bao. So I escaped being caught by the penal statutes, and I am still bound to a favored rank. Having been washed clean, I should indeed temper and grind myself, mend once more the heart that masters itself, and spend forever my strength in the king's service. Only, the pine and the bamboo do not change, and by them I may keep myself firm and true. But the river willow meets autumn first, and already I am hurt by decline and age. Sinew and bone grow weary, and spirit and will break in secret. Though I would make myself strong, I fear in the end I cannot reach it. Now by good fortune the upper capital is recovered and the great carriage returns. The unicorn's fight and the dragon's cry have surely ended the fear of evil rising, and turning the oxen loose and sending the horses home truly welcomes the season of laying arms down. In this clear age I am truly a thing to be cast aside. Still more, I am bound by a deep-set illness and have badly failed my strong plans. I take up the mirror and feel empty, and my thought is to throw down the hairpin. Should I envy Qi Xi, who asked for old age and still stayed in a useless post? I think only of Fan Li, who loved leisure and could follow his plain intent. I beg to be released from the post I hold, and reckon for myself that this is right. I humbly consider that the Chief Minister chooses officers only for worth and sends men away with courtesy. Look down and pity one weak and poor, and grant this request. Though I am ashamed not to have repaid his kindness, I shall at least stop drawing a corpse's salary any longer. I look up and trouble the potter's wheel, and respectfully entrust this to paper and brush. Now I know that when the tune is hurried the sound is sad, and I am ashamed only that my words are spent and my reasons at an end. I humbly ask that he look down and grant his kind regard.