Separate letter to the Director of the Bureau of Treasury: the second與金部郎中別紙
1Do not keep in your heart the small integrity of Chao Fu and Xu You
某啓。某仰審格言。側窺性行。人能弘道。賢臣以致堯舜爲先。世實須才。俊士以效巢由是恥。古者只傳於方策。今也共仰於德門。伏惟郎中大雅含淸。中庸處厚。旣以高名肅物。能將全德鎭時。柱晴空而嶽頂無雲。瑩秋色而潭心有月。比者蘭拋粉闥。竹領朱轓。出分天子之憂。來慰海人之望。況彼郡也戶呑越水。窓列吳山。得袁宏擧扇之風。靈濤縮怒。使謝運枉帆之路。釣渚含春。及其五袴傳歌。百錢流譽。尋迎睿渥。遙陟華資。懷寶令名。誰發迷邦之問。司珍正位。佇成匡國之謀。而乃得之若驚。直而不倨。選勝於巖軒澗戶。貪歡於酒賦琴歌。久聆萬乘虛懷。忍見四方失望。今者梟聲向息。鳳紀重興。晉傅長才。待示指南之制。魏牟積戀。佇申拱北之誠。入覲蓂階。坐調梅鼎。豈止應月中之夢。必期成天下之春。然則致堯舜之大猷。永匡宸扆。效巢由之小節。不介尊襟。某遠賣鮫綃。慙非重價。仰趨馬帳。忝預生徒。下情無任攀戀禱祝兢惕之至云云。
I submit this. I have looked up and studied your words of measure and have glanced at your nature and your conduct. A man can broaden the Way, and so a worthy servant puts first the bringing of his ruler to Yao and Shun. The age truly needs talent, and so a fine scholar is ashamed to copy Chao Fu and Xu You. In old days this was only handed down in books. Now all men look up to it at your gate of virtue. I humbly consider that you, Director, hold clarity within your great refinement and dwell in weight through the mean. You are already able to make all things solemn by your high name and to steady the age with whole virtue. You hold up a clear sky, so there is no cloud on the mountain peaks. You brighten the autumn colors, so there is a moon in the heart of the pool. Of late you cast aside the orchid of the powdered gate and took command of the bamboo and the red-shafted carriage. Going out, you shared the cares of the Son of Heaven. Coming, you consoled the hopes of the people by the sea. Moreover, in that commandery the households swallow the waters of Yue and the windows set out the hills of Wu. It caught the wind of Yuan Hong's raised fan, and the spirit waves drew back their anger. It made the road where Xie Lingyun bent his sail, and the fishing shore holds the spring. When the song of the five trousers was handed about and the fame of the hundred cash flowed abroad, you soon met with the ruler's rich favor and climbed far to a splendid post. With so fine a name for one who holds a treasure in his breast, who would raise the question of leading a state astray? In the right place for one who takes charge of treasures, your plan to set the country straight is awaited. Yet you took it as though startled, and you are upright without being haughty. You choose fine spots among rock-hung galleries and stream-side gates, and you seek your joy in wine and rhapsody, in zither and song. Will you listen long to the Son of Heaven emptying his heart for you, and bear to see the four quarters lose their hope? Now the owl's cry is about to stop, and the years of the phoenix rise once more. Fu Xuan of Jin, a man of rare gifts, waits to show how the south-pointing carriage is made, and the gathered longing of Wei Mou waits to spread its loyalty toward the north pole. You will enter to attend at the steps of the calendar plant, and you will sit and blend the plum in the cauldron. How should this stop at answering a dream of the moon? It must surely bring about a spring for all under heaven. If so, let the great plan that brings a ruler to Yao and Shun set the throne straight forever, and do not keep in your honored heart the small integrity that copies Chao Fu and Xu You. I sell mermaid-woven gauze from afar and am ashamed that it is not of heavy price. I hurry up to the curtain of Ma Rong and unworthily take a place among his students. My humble heart cannot bear the fullness of its clinging love, its prayer, and its awe. And so on.