Yonggung buyeollok — A Banquet at the Dragon Palace龍宮赴宴錄
松都有天磨山。其山高揷而峭秀，故曰天磨山。中有龍湫，名曰瓢淵，窄而深，不知其幾丈，溢而爲瀑，可百餘丈。景槪淸麗，遊僧過客，必於此而觀覽焉。夙著異靈，載諸傳記，國家歲時，以牲牢祀之。
In Songdo there is Cheonmasan. The mountain rises high and stands steep and fine, and for that reason it is called Cheonmasan. In its midst is a dragon pool named Pyoyeon (瓢淵). It is narrow and deep, and no one knows how many fathoms it goes down. It brims over and falls as a cascade of a hundred fathoms and more. The scene is clear and lovely, and wandering monks and passing travelers never fail to view it here. Its holy power showed itself long ago and was set down in the records (傳記), and the state offers beasts in sacrifice there at each season of the year.
前朝有韓生者，少而能文，著於朝廷，以文士稱之。嘗於所居室，日晩宴坐，忽有靑衫▩頭郞官二人，從空而下，俯伏於庭曰：「瓢淵神龍奉邀。」生愕然變色曰：「神人路隔，安能相及？且水府汗漫，波浪相囓，安可利往？」二人曰：「有駿足在門，願勿辭也。」遂鞠躬挽袂出門，果有驄馬，金鞍玉勒，蓋黃羅帕，而有翼者也。從者皆紅巾抹額，而錦袴者十餘人。扶生上馬，幢蓋前導，妓樂後隨，二人執笏從之。其馬緣空而飛，但見足下煙雲苒惹，不見地之在下也。
In the former dynasty (前朝) there was a man called Scholar Han (韓生). While still young he wrote well and became known at court, and people spoke of him as a man of letters.
Once, in the room where he lived, the day had grown late and he was sitting at his ease when two officials in blue coats with □ on their heads suddenly came down out of the air. They lay face down in the courtyard and said, "The holy dragon of Pyoyeon sends us to bring you."
Han was startled and his color changed. He said, "The way of gods and the way of men are cut apart. How can the one reach the other? And the office of the waters is far and wide, and the waves bite at one another. How should the road be safe?"
The two men said, "A swift horse stands at the gate. Do not refuse."
So he bent his body, and they drew him by the sleeve out of the gate. There indeed stood a dappled gray horse with a golden saddle and a jade bridle, covered with a cloth of yellow silk, and it had wings. Those who attended it were all bound at the forehead with red cloth and wore brocade trousers, and there were more than ten of them.
They helped Han onto the horse. Banners and canopies led the way in front, singing girls and music followed behind, and the two men took up their tablets and came after. The horse flew along the empty air. He saw only mist and cloud trailing under its feet, and he could not see the earth below.
〔In the source text one character is missing after "in blue coats."〕
頃刻間，已至於宮門之外，下馬而立。守門者，皆著彭蜞鰲鱉之甲，矛戟森然，眼眶可寸許。見生皆低頭交拜，鋪牀請憩，似有預待。二人趨入報之，俄而靑童二人，拱手引入。生舒步而進，仰視宮門，榜曰含仁之門。生纔入門，神王戴切雲冠，佩劍秉簡而下，延之上階，升殿請坐，卽水晶宮白玉牀也。生屈伏固辭曰：「下土愚人，甘與草木同腐，安得干冒神威，濫承寵接？」神王曰。「久望令聞，仰屈尊儀，幸毋見訝。」遂揮手揖坐，生三讓而登。神王南向，踞七寶華牀，生西向而坐。
In a moment they had come outside the palace gate, and he got down from the horse and stood.
The gatekeepers all wore the shells of crabs and soft-shelled turtles and tortoises. Their spears and halberds bristled, and the sockets of their eyes were an inch across. When they saw Han they all bowed their heads and made their bows to him, and they spread a couch and asked him to rest, as though they had been waiting for him.
The two men hurried in to announce him, and presently two boys in blue clothes folded their hands and led him in. Han walked slowly forward, and looking up at the palace gate he saw a board that read Hamin Gate (含仁之門).
He had barely passed the gate when the Divine King came down wearing the Jeorun cap (切雲冠), a sword at his waist and a tablet in his hand. He met him at the upper steps, brought him up into the hall, and asked him to sit. It was a couch of white jade in a palace of crystal.
Han bent down and lay prostrate and firmly declined. He said, "I am a foolish man of the world below, content to rot along with the grass and the trees. How should I trespass on your divine majesty and take such favor beyond my station?"
The Divine King said, "I have long looked up to your fair name, and I have bent your honored person to come here. Do not think it strange."
Then he waved his hand and bowed him to a seat. Han declined three times and went up. The Divine King faced south and sat upon a splendid couch of the seven treasures, and Han sat facing west.
坐未定，閽者傳言曰：「賓至。」王又出門迎接。見有三人，著紅袍，承綵輦，威儀侍從，儼若王者。王又延之殿上。生隱於牖下，欲竢其定而請謁。王勸三人，東向揖坐而告曰：「適有文士在陽界，奉邀，諸君勿相疑也。」命左右引入，生趨進禮拜，諸人皆俛首答拜。生讓坐曰：「尊神貴重，僕乃一介寒儒，敢當高座？」固辭。諸人曰：「陰陽路殊，不相統攝，而神王威重，鑑人惟明，子必人間文章鉅公，神王是命，請勿拒也。」神王曰：「坐。」三人一時就坐。生乃跼蹐而登，跪於席邊。神王曰：「安坐。」座定，行茶一巡。
Before the seats were settled, the gatekeeper passed in a word: "Guests have come."
The King went out of the gate again to meet them. Han saw three men in red robes riding in painted palanquins, and their state and their attendants were as grave as a king's. The King brought them up into the hall as well.
Han hid below the window, meaning to wait until they were seated and then ask leave to greet them. The King urged the three men to bow and sit facing east, and he told them, "A man of letters from the world of the living (陽界) is here, and I have had him brought. Let none of you think it strange."
He commanded his attendants to lead him in, and Han hurried forward and made his bow. The others all bowed their heads and answered his bow.
Han declined the seat. He said, "You honored gods are noble and weighty, and I am only a poor scholar. How should I dare take a high seat?" And he firmly declined.
The others said, "Yin and yang go by different roads and do not govern one another. But the Divine King's majesty is weighty and his sight of men is clear alone. You must surely be a great master of letters among men. The Divine King has so commanded, so do not refuse."
The Divine King said, "Be seated."
The three men took their places at once. Han then went up with careful steps and knelt at the edge of the mat. The Divine King said, "Sit at your ease."
When the seats were settled, tea was carried round once.
神王告曰：「寡人止有一女，已加冠笄，將欲適人，而弊居僻陋，無迎待之館，花燭之房，今欲別構一閣，命名佳會，工匠已集，木石咸具，而所乏者，上梁文耳。側聞秀才，名著三韓，才冠百家，故特遠招，幸爲寡人製之。」言未旣，有二丫童，一捧碧玉之硯，湘竹之管，一捧氷綃一丈，跪進於前。生俛伏而起，染翰立成，雲煙相糺。
The Divine King addressed him.
"I have but one daughter. She has already put up her hair and taken the pin, and I mean to give her to a husband. But my poor dwelling is out of the way and cramped, and there is no hall in which to receive and entertain the guests, and no room for the wedding candles.
Now I mean to raise a pavilion apart and name it Gahoe (佳會). The workmen are already gathered and the wood and the stone are all ready, and what is lacking is only the ridge-beam text (上梁文).
I have heard it said that your name is known through the Three Han and that your talent stands first among the hundred schools, and so I have called you from far away. Be so good as to write it for me."
Before he had finished speaking, two girls with their hair in knots came forward. One bore an inkstone of green jade and a brush of Xiang bamboo (湘竹), the other a length of silk like ice, and they knelt and offered them before him.
Han bent down and lay prostrate, then rose and wet his brush and finished it where he stood, and the words wound together like cloud and mist.
其詞曰：「切以堪輿之內，龍神最靈，人物之間，配匹至重，旣有潤物之功，可無衍福之基，是以關雎好逑，所以著萬化之始，飛龍利見，亦以象靈變之迹。是用新構阿房，昭揭盛號，集蜃鼉而作力，聚寶貝以爲材，竪水晶珊瑚之柱，掛龍骨琅玗之梁，珠簾捲而山靄靑葱，玉戶開而洞雲繚繞。宜室宜家，享胡福於萬年，鼓瑟鼓琴，毓金枝於億世。用資風雲之變，永補造化之功，在天在淵，蘇下民之渴望，或潛或躍，祐上帝之仁心，騰翥快於乾坤，威德洽于遐邇，玄龜赤鯉，踊躍而助唱，木怪山魈，次第而來賀，宜作短歌，用揭雕梁。
His words ran:
"I humbly consider that within heaven and earth the dragon god is the most holy, and that between men and things the joining of a pair is the weightiest matter of all. Since there is already the merit of watering all things, how should there not be a ground for spreading blessing?
Therefore the good mate of Guanju (關雎) shows forth the beginning of all change, and the words 'It is well to see the flying dragon' likewise take their image from the traces of holy transformation.
So now a house like Epang (阿房) has been newly raised and its great name hung up in the light. Sea dragons and river crocodiles were gathered to lend their strength, and treasures and shells were gathered for its timber. Pillars of crystal and coral were set up, and beams of dragon bone and langu stone (琅玗) were laid across. When the pearl blind is rolled up the mountain haze is green, and when the jade door is opened the valley cloud winds round.
May the house be fitting and the household be fitting, and may you enjoy great blessing for ten thousand years. May the zither be played and the lute be played, and may the golden branch be reared through a hundred million ages.
Aid the changes of wind and cloud and mend forever the work of creation. Whether you are in heaven or in the deep, loose the thirsty longing of the people below. Whether you lie hidden or leap up, help the merciful heart of the Lord on High. Your rising and your flight are a gladness to heaven and earth, and your majesty and your power soak the far places and the near, so that the black tortoise and the red carp leap and help the song, and the tree goblins and the mountain sprites come in their turn to give you joy.
It is fitting that a short song be made and hung upon the carved beam.
抛梁東，紫翠岧繞撑碧空。一夜雷聲喧繞澗，蒼崖萬仞珠玲瓏。抛梁西，征轉巖廻山鳥啼。湛湛深湫知幾丈，一泓春水似玻瓈。抛梁南，十里松杉橫翠嵐。誰識神宮宏且壯，碧琉璃底影相涵。抛梁北，曉日初升潭鏡碧。素練橫空三百丈，翻疑天上銀河落。抛梁上，手捫白虹遊莽蒼。渤海扶桑千萬里，顧視人寰如一掌。抛梁下，可惜春疇飛野馬。願將一滴靈源水，四海便作甘雨灑。
Cast the beam to the east: purple and green tower far off and prop the blue sky. All one night the thunder rang loud around the stream, and on the green cliff of ten thousand fathoms the beads shine clear.
Cast the beam to the west: the road turns, the rocks wind round, the mountain birds cry. Who knows how many fathoms the deep clear pool goes down? One hollow of spring water, like glass.
Cast the beam to the south: ten li of pine and fir lie under a green haze. Who would know that the palace of the god is great and strong? Under the blue glass the shadows lie steeped together.
Cast the beam to the north: the dawn sun first climbs and the mirror of the pool is green. White silk stretches across the air, three hundred fathoms, and you would think the River of Heaven had fallen out of the sky.
Cast the beam upward: the hand gropes at the white rainbow and roams the vast blue. Bohai and Fusang are a thousand, ten thousand li away, but look back at the world of men and it is like one palm.
Cast the beam downward: what a pity that the haze flies over the spring fields. Take, I pray, one drop of the water of the holy spring and sprinkle it on the four seas as a sweet rain.
伏願營室之後，合巹之晨，萬福咸臻，千祥畢至，瑤宮玉殿，挾卿雲之靉靆，鳳枕鴦衾，聳歡聲之騰沸，不顯其德，以赫厥靈。」
I bow down and pray that after the house is built, on the morning when the wedding cups are joined, ten thousand blessings may gather and a thousand good signs arrive; that in the jasper hall and the jade palace the lucky clouds may billow thick; that on the phoenix pillow and the mandarin-duck quilt the sound of joy may boil up; and that your power be made plain and your holiness shine out.
書畢進呈，神王大喜。乃命三神傳閱，三神皆嘖嘖歎賞。於是，神王開潤筆宴。生跪曰：「尊神畢集，不敢問諱。」神王曰：「秀才陽人，固不知矣。一祖江神，二洛河神，三碧瀾神也。余欲與秀才光伴，故相邀爾。」酒盡樂作，有蛾眉十餘輩，搖翠袖，戴瓊花，相進相退，舞而歌碧潭之曲曰：
When he had finished writing he offered it up, and the Divine King was greatly pleased. He commanded the three gods to pass it round and read it, and all three clicked their tongues and praised it and admired it.
Then the Divine King opened a feast in payment for the wetting of the brush. Han knelt and said, "The honored gods are all gathered here, and I dare not ask your names."
The Divine King said, "You are a man of the world of the living, so of course you do not know them. The first is the god of the Jogang (祖江), the second the god of the Nakha (洛河), the third the god of the Byeongnan (碧瀾). I wished to share this bright occasion with you, and so I called them here."
When the wine was done and the music struck up, more than ten women with moth eyebrows shook their green sleeves and wore flowers of jade on their heads. They came forward and drew back in turn, and they danced and sang the Song of the Green Pool (碧潭).
靑山兮蒼蒼，碧潭兮汪汪。飛澗兮泱泱，接天上之銀潢。若有人兮波中央，振環珮兮琳琅。威炎赫兮煌煌，羌氣宇兮軒昻。擇吉日兮辰良，占鳳鳴之鏘鏘。有翼兮華堂，有祥兮靈長。招文士兮製短章，歌盛化兮擧脩梁。酌桂酒兮飛羽觴，輕燕回兮踏春陽。獸口噴兮瑞香，豕服沸兮瓊漿。擊魚鼓兮郞當，吹龍笛兮趨蹌。神儼然而在牀，仰至德兮不可忘。
Green the mountains, green and deep, green the pool, and brimming wide. The flying stream runs strong and full and touches the River of Heaven above. Someone seems to stand in the midst of the waves, shaking ring and pendant till they chime. Majesty and flame blaze and glitter, and the bearing of him is high. A good day has been picked, a good hour chosen, and the clear cry of the phoenix is read as a sign. There are wings, and a splendid hall; there is a good omen, and a holiness that lasts. A man of letters is called to make a short piece and to sing the great work while the long beam is raised. Cassia wine is poured, the feathered cup flies, and the light swallow wheels and treads the spring sun. From the beasts' mouths a lucky incense is breathed, and in the vessels the jade liquor boils. The fish drum is struck and the dancing swings, the dragon pipe is blown and the feet go quick. The god sits grave upon his couch, and his utmost power is looked up to and never forgotten.
舞竟，復有總角十餘輩，左執籥，右執翿，相旋相顧，而歌回風之曲曰：
When the dance was done, more than ten young men with their hair unbound came in, a flute in the left hand and a feathered canopy in the right. They turned about and looked at one another, and they sang the Song of the Whirling Wind (回風).
若有人兮山之阿，披薛荔兮帶女蘿。日將暮兮淸波，生細紋兮如羅。風瓢瓢兮鬢鬖*사,雲冉冉兮衣婆娑。周旋兮委蛇，巧笑兮相過。損余褋兮鳴渦，解余環兮寒沙。露浥兮庭莎，煙暝兮嶔峨。望遠峰之嵾嵯，若江上之靑螺。疏擊兮銅鑼，醉舞兮傞傞。有酒兮如泥，有肉兮如坡。賓旣醉兮顔酡，製新曲兮酣歌。或相扶兮相拖，或相拍兮相呵。擊玉壺兮飮無何，淸興闌兮哀情多。
Someone seems to stand at the shoulder of the hill, a creeper thrown over him, a vine for his sash. The day is near its close, and on the clear water a fine pattern rises like silk. The wind blows and the side-locks are tangled, the cloud floats and the clothes billow. Round and round they go, winding and winding, and pass one another with a fair smile. I drop my single robe into the crying eddy, I loose my ring upon the cold sand. Dew wets the sedge in the courtyard, mist darkens the steep hills. I look at the far peaks, ragged and uneven, like green conch shells above a river. The bronze gong is struck at long intervals, and the drunken dancing staggers and sways. There is wine like a marsh of mud, there is meat like a hillside. The guests are drunk already, their faces red, and they make new tunes and sing in their cups. Some hold one another up and drag one another along, some clap their hands and scold one another. They beat the jade jar and drink, and what of it? The clear joy runs out, and sorrow is left in plenty.
〔In the source text the last character of the line "the side-locks are tangled" is written with the sound "sa" instead of a Chinese character.〕
舞竟，神王喜抃，洗爵捧觥，致於生前，自吹玉龍之笛，歌水龍吟一闋，以盡歡娛之情。其詞曰：
When the dance was done the Divine King clapped his hands for joy. He washed a cup and raised it and had it set before Han, and he himself blew the jade dragon pipe and sang one round of Shuilongyin (水龍吟) to fill out the joy of the hour. His words ran:
管絃聲裏傳觴，瑞麟口噴靑龍腦。橫吹片玉一聲，天上碧雲如掃。響激波濤，曲翻風月，景閑人老。悵光陰似箭，風流若夢，歡娛又生煩惱。西嶺綵嵐初散，喜東峰氷盤凝灝。擧杯爲問，靑天明月，幾看醜好？酒滿金罍，人頹玉峀，誰人推倒？爲佳賓，脫盡十載雲泥臺鬱，快登蒼昊。
The cup goes round amid the sound of string and pipe, and the lucky girin breathes blue dragon-brain incense from its mouth. A shard of jade is blown aslant, and at one note the blue cloud above the sky seems swept away. The echo strikes the waves, the tune turns the wind and the moon over, the scene is at leisure but the man grows old. Sad it is, that the years are like an arrow and this fine living like a dream, so that joy breeds trouble again. The painted haze on the western ridge has just scattered, and the ice plate has frozen clear on the eastern peak, and I am glad. I raise the cup and ask: bright moon in the blue sky, how many times have you seen the ugly and the fair? The wine fills the golden jar, a man falls like a peak of jade. Who pushed him over? For the sake of a fair guest I throw off ten years of the choking that lay between cloud and mud, and climb light-hearted into the blue vault.
歌竟，顧謂左右曰：「此間伎戱，不類人間，爾等爲嘉賓呈之。」有一人，自稱郭介士，擧足橫行。進而告曰：「僕巖中隱士，沙穴幽人，八月風淸，輸芒東海之濱，九天雲散，含光南井之傍，中黃外圓，被堅執銳。常支解以入鼎，縱摩頂而利人。滋味風流，可解壯士之顔，形摸郭索，終貽婦人之笑。趙倫雖惡於水中，錢昆常思於外郡，死入畢吏部之手，神依韓晉公之筆。且逢場而作戱，宜弄脚以周旋。」卽於席前，負甲執戈，噴沫瞪視，回瞳搖肢，蹣跚趨蹌，進前退後，作八風之舞，其類數十，折旋俯伏，一時中節，乃作歌曰。
When the song was done he looked round at those beside him and said, "The sport in this place is not like the sport of the world of men. Show it to our fair guest."
One came forward who called himself Gwak Gaesa (郭介士), and he raised his feet and walked sideways. He came forward and said:
"I am a hidden scholar within the rocks, a quiet man in a hole in the sand. When the wind of the eighth month is clear I carry the grain awn to the shore of the eastern sea, and when the clouds scatter in the ninth heaven I hold the light beside the southern well. I am yellow within and round without, I wear what is hard and hold what is sharp.
Always my body is torn apart and goes into the cauldron, and though I be ground from the crown down I profit men. My savor and my manner can smooth the face of a brave man, and my crawling sidelong shape leaves the women laughing to the end.
Zhao Lun (趙倫) hated me in the water, yet Qian Kun (錢昆) was always thinking of the outer districts. Dead, I came into the hand of Director Bi (畢吏部); my spirit leaned upon the brush of Han, Duke of Jin (韓晉公).
And now that I have come upon a playing ground I should make some sport, so it is fitting that I ply my legs and go the round."
Then, before the seats, he bore up his shell and took a spear, spat foam and stared with his eyes wide, rolled his eyeballs and shook his limbs, and with a lurching, hurrying step he went forward and drew back and danced the Dance of the Eight Winds (八風). Some tens of his kind bent and turned and bowed down flat, and all of them kept the beat together. Then he made a song:
依江海以穴處兮，吐氣宇與虎爭。身九尺而入貢，類十種而多名。喜神王之嘉會，羌頓足而橫行。愛淵潛以獨處，驚江浦之燈光。匪酬恩而泣珠，非報仇而橫槍。嗟濠梁之巨族，笑我謂我無腸。然可比於君子，德充腹而內黃。美在中而暢四肢兮，螯流玉而凝香。羌今夕兮何夕，赴瑤池之霞觴。神矯首而載歌，賓旣醉而彷徨。黃金殿兮白玉牀，傳巨觥兮咽絲簧。弄君山三管之奇聲，飽仙府九盌之神漿。山鬼趠兮翺翔，水族跳兮騰驤。山有榛兮濕有笭，懷美人兮不能忘。
I lean on river and sea and live in a hole, and the spirit I breathe out contends with the tiger. My body is nine feet long and goes up as tribute, my kind are ten in number and my names are many. I am glad of the Divine King's fair gathering, and I stamp my feet and walk sideways. I love to lie sunk in the pool alone, and the lamplight at the river landing startles me. It is not to repay a kindness that I weep pearls, it is not to avenge a wrong that I hold my spear athwart. Ah, you great clans of Haoliang (濠梁), you laugh at me and say I have no bowels. Yet I may be matched against a gentleman, for my power fills my belly and within I am yellow. The good is within me and runs out to my four limbs, and my claw pours jade and makes the fragrance thicken. Ah, what evening is this evening, that I go up to the cup of sunset at Yaochi (瑤池)? The god lifts his head and sings, and the guest is drunk already and wanders about. A hall of gold and a couch of white jade, and as the great cup goes round the string and the reed choke with sound. They play the strange notes of the three pipes of Junshan (君山), and are filled with the nine bowls of holy liquor of the immortals' place. The mountain ghosts spring up and soar, the water folk leap and rise. On the hill there are hazels, in the marsh there is duckweed, and I long for the fair one and cannot forget.
於是，左旋右折，殿後奔前，滿座皆輾轉失笑。戱畢，又有一人，自稱玄先生，曳尾延頸，吐氣凝眸，進而告曰：「僕蓍叢隱者，蓮葉遊人，洛水負文，已旌夏禹之功，淸江被網，曾著元君之策。縱刳腸以利人，恐脫殼之難堪。山節藻梲，殼爲臧公之珍，石腸玄甲，胸吐壯士之氣。盧敖踞我於海上，毛寶放我於江中。生爲嘉世之珍，死作靈道之寶。宜張口而呵呻，聊以舒千年藏六之胸懷。」卽於席前，吐氣裊裊如縷，長百餘尺，吸之則無迹，或縮頸藏肢，或引頸搖項，俄而，進蹈安徐，作九功之舞，獨進獨退，乃作歌曰。
At this he turned to the left and broke to the right, fell back and ran forward, and the whole company rolled about and could not hold in their laughter.
When the sport was over another came forward who called himself Hyeon Seonsaeng (玄先生). He dragged his tail and stretched his neck, breathed out his spirit and fixed his eyes, and he came forward and said:
"I am a hidden one among the milfoil stalks, a wanderer upon the lotus leaves. I came out of the Luo River with writing on my back and made plain the merit of Yu of Xia, and I was caught in the net in the clear river and long ago completed the divination of Lord Yuan (元君).
Though my belly be cut open to profit men, I fear the stripping of my shell is hard to bear. With bracket-capitals carved as mountains and king-posts painted with water plants, my shell became the treasure of Duke Zang (臧公); with a belly like stone and black armor, my breast breathes out the spirit of a brave man.
Lu Ao (盧敖) sat upon me above the sea, and Mao Bao (毛寶) let me go in the middle of the river. Alive I am a treasure of the age, and dead I become a treasure of the holy way.
It is fitting that I open my mouth and breathe out, and so unfold a little the heart that has kept its six parts hidden a thousand years."
Then, before the seats, he breathed out, and the breath trailed like a thread more than a hundred feet long, and when he drew it in there was no trace of it. Now he drew in his neck and hid his limbs, now he stretched his neck and shook it. Presently he came forward, treading calm and slow, and danced the Dance of the Nine Merits (九功). He went forward alone and drew back alone, and then he made a song:
依山澤以介處兮，愛呼吸而長生。生千歲而五聚，搖十尾而最靈。寧曳尾於泥途兮，不願藏乎廟堂。匪鍊丹而久視，非學道而靈長。遭聖明於千載，呈瑞應之昭彰。我爲水族之長兮，助連山與歸藏。負文字而有數兮，告吉凶而成策。然而多智有所危困，多能有所不及。未免剖心而灼背兮，侶魚蝦而屛迹。羌伸頸而擧踵兮，預高堂之燕席。賀飛龍之靈變，玩呑龜之筆力。酒旣進而樂作，羌歡娛兮無極。擊鼉鼓而吹鳳簫兮，舞潛虯於幽壑。集山澤之魑魅，聚江河之君長。若溫嶠之燃犀，慚禹鼎之罔象。相舞蹈於前庭，或謔笑而撫掌。日欲落兮風生，魚龍翔兮波滃泱。時不可兮驟得，心矯厲而慨慷。
I lean on hill and marsh and live in my shell, and I love my breathing and so live long. I live a thousand years and the five are gathered in me, I shake my ten tails and am the most holy. I would rather drag my tail in the mud than be shut away in a shrine. It is not by boiling the elixir that I see long years, it is not by learning the Way that my holiness lasts. In a thousand years I met with a bright and holy ruler and showed forth the lucky answer plainly. I am the elder of the water folk, and I helped the Lianshan (連山) and the Guizang (歸藏). I bore the letters on my back and the numbers were in me, and I told the lucky and the unlucky and completed the divination. Yet where wisdom is great there is danger and distress, and where skill is great there are things beyond reach. I could not escape the cutting of my breast and the burning of my back, and so I took fish and shrimp for company and hid my traces. Ah, I stretch my neck and rise on my heels and take my place at the feast in the high hall. I give joy at the holy changes of the flying dragon and admire the brush that swallows tortoises. The wine has been brought and the music has begun, and ah, the gladness has no end. The crocodile drum is beaten and the phoenix flute is blown, and the hidden dragon dances in the dark valley. The goblins of hill and marsh are gathered, the elders of river and stream are brought together. It is like Wen Qiao (溫嶠) burning the rhinoceros horn, and I am ashamed before the mangsang (罔象) on the cauldron of Yu. They dance together in the front courtyard, and some jest and laugh and clap their hands. The sun is going down and the wind gets up, fish and dragons fly and the waves swell high. The hour cannot be seized all at once, and my heart is stirred and full of grief and passion.
曲終，夷猶恍惚，跳梁低昻，莫辨其狀，萬座嗢噱。戱畢，於是，木石魍魎，山林精怪，起而各呈所能，或嘯或歌，或舞或吹，或忭或踊，異狀同音，乃作歌曰：
When the song was done he swayed and hung back in a daze, leaping and rising and sinking so that his shape could not be made out, and the whole company roared with laughter.
When the sport was over, the goblins of tree and stone and the sprites of hill and forest rose and each showed what he could do. Some whistled and some sang, some danced and some piped, some clapped and some leapt. Their shapes were different but their voices were one, and they made a song:
神龍在淵，或躍于天。於千萬年，厥祚延綿。卑禮招賢，儼若神仙。玩彼新篇，珠玉相聯。琬琰以鑴，千載永傳。君子言旋，開此瓊筵。歌以採蓮，妙舞躚翩。伐鼓淵淵，和彼繁絃。一棹航船，鯨吸百川。揖讓周旋，樂且無愆。
The holy dragon lies in the deep and now and again leaps up to heaven. For ten million years his blessing will run on and on. He lowers his courtesy and calls the worthy, and he is grave as an immortal. We look at that new piece of writing and the pearls and the jade are strung together. Cut it upon fair jade and it will be handed down a thousand years. The gentleman is about to go home, and this jeweled feast has been spread for him. The song gathers the lotus, the fine dancing flutters. The drum is struck, deep and deep, and it matches those thronging strings. With one oar the boat is rowed and the whale drinks a hundred rivers. They bow and yield and go the round, and there is joy and no fault in it.
歌竟，於是。江河君長，跪而陳詩，其第一座曰：
When the song was done, the elders of river and stream knelt and set out their poems. The one in the first seat said:
碧海朝宗勢未休，奔波汨汨負輕舟。雲初散後月沈浦，潮欲起時風滿洲。日煖龜魚閑出沒，波明鳧鴨任沈浮。年年觸石多鳴咽，此夕歡娛蕩百憂。’
The set of the water toward the blue sea never rests, and the running waves go gurgling and carry the light boat. When the clouds have just scattered the moon sinks at the landing, and when the tide is about to rise the wind fills the sandbank. The day is warm, and turtle and fish come and go at leisure; the waves are bright, and duck and teal sink and float as they please. Year after year they have struck the rocks and sobbed aloud, but this evening's gladness washes a hundred cares away.
第二座曰：
The one in the second seat said:
五花樹影蔭重茵，籩豆笙簧次第陳。雲母帳中歌宛轉，水晶簾裏舞逡巡。神龍豈是池中物，文士由來席上珍。安得長繩繫白日，留連泥醉艶陽春。
The shadow of the five-flowered tree covers the doubled mat, and dish and stand and reed-pipe are set out in order. Within the mica curtain the singing turns and winds, inside the crystal blind the dancing hangs back and goes on. How should the holy dragon be a thing of the pond, and the man of letters has always been the treasure of the mat. How may I get a long rope to tie up the white sun and stay here drunk to the dregs in the bright spring?
第三座曰：
The one in the third seat said:
神王酩酊倚金牀，山靄霏霏已夕陽。妙舞傞傞廻錦袖，淸歌細細遶彫梁。幾年孤憤翻銀島，今日同歡擧玉觴。流盡光陰人不識，古今世事太忽忙。
The Divine King is deep in drink and leans on his golden couch, the mountain haze is thick, and the sun is down already. The fine dancing sways and turns the brocade sleeve, the clear singing runs thin about the carved beam. How many years did a lonely anger overturn the silver island? Today we are glad together and raise the cup of jade. Men do not know that all their days are running out, and the affairs of the world, old and new, are far too busy.
題畢進呈，神王笑閱，使人授生。生受之跪讀，三復賞玩，卽於座前，題二十韻，以陳盛事，詞曰：
When they had finished writing they offered the poems up. The Divine King read them with a smile and had a man give them to Han. Han took them and knelt and read them, and he went over them three times and admired them. Then, before the seats, he made twenty rhymes to set out the greatness of the occasion. The words ran:
天磨高出漢，巖溜遠飛空。直下穿林壑，奔流作巨淙。波心涵月窟，潭底悶龍宮。變化留神迹，騰拏建大功。煙熅生細霧，駘蕩起祥風。碧落分符重，靑丘列爵崇。乘雲朝紫極，行雨駕靑驄。金闕開佳燕，瑤階奏別鴻。流霞浮茗椀，湛露滴荷紅。揖讓威儀重，周旋禮度豊。衣冠文璨爛，環珮響玲瓏。魚鼈來朝賀，江河亦會同。靈機何恍惚，玄德更淵沖。苑擊催花鼓，樽垂吸酒虹。天姝吹玉笛，王母理絲桐。百拜傳醪醴，三呼祝華嵩。煙沈霜雪果，盤映水晶葱。珍味充喉潤，恩波浹骨融。還如湌沆瀣，宛似到瀛蓬。歡罷應相別，風流一夢中。
Cheonmasan rises high into the sky, and the water of the rocks flies far through the air. Straight down it pierces wood and gorge, it runs headlong and makes a great torrent. In the heart of the waves it holds the cave of the moon, under the pool it hides the dragon palace. Its changes have left the traces of holiness, its rising and its grasp have built a great merit. Thick and close, a fine mist comes up; soft and wide, a lucky wind rises. In the blue heaven the tally is shared, and it is weighty; in Cheonggu (靑丘), our own land, the ranks are set out, and they are high. He rides the cloud to the court of the purple pole, he drives the rain on a blue dappled horse. In the golden palace a fair feast is opened, on the jade steps the parting of the wild geese is played. The floating sunset swims in the tea bowl, the deep dew drops on the red lotus. They bow and yield, and their bearing is weighty; they go the round, and their courtesy is full. The figures on robe and cap are brilliant, the sound of ring and pendant is clear. Fish and turtle come to give their joy, river and stream are gathered here as well. How wonderful is the holy working, how deep and still is the hidden power. In the garden they beat the drum that urges the flowers, over the jar they hang the rainbow that drinks the wine. The maid of heaven blows the jade flute, the Queen Mother of the West tunes her zither. A hundred bows, and the sweet wine goes round; three shouts, and the wish is for Hua and Song. Fruits like frost and snow, sunk in the smoke, and on the tray the shine of crystal onions. The rare savor fills the throat and makes it smooth, the wave of kindness soaks the bones and melts them. It is as if I had drunk the pure mist of dawn, it is truly as if I had come to Yingzhou and Penglai. When the gladness ends we shall surely part, and all this fine living is within one dream.
詩進，滿座皆歎賞不已。神王謝曰：「當勒之金石，以爲弊居之寶。」
When the poem was offered up, the whole company praised it and could not stop. The Divine King thanked him and said, "I shall have it cut into metal and stone and make it the treasure of my poor dwelling."
生拜謝，進而告曰：「龍宮勝事，已盡見之矣。且宮室之廣，疆域之壯，可周覽不？」神王曰：「可」。生受命，出戶盱衡，但見綵雲繚繞，不辨東西。神王命吹雲者掃之。有一人，於殿庭，蹙口一吹，天宇晃朗，無山石巖崖，但見世界平闊，如碁局，可數十里，瓊花琪樹，列植其中，布以金沙，繚以金墉，其廊廡庭除，皆鋪碧琉璃塼，光影相涵。
Han bowed his thanks and came forward and said, "I have now seen all the fine things of the dragon palace. May I also look round the breadth of the palace buildings and the strength of your domain?"
The Divine King said, "You may."
Han took his leave and went out of the door and raised his eyes, but he saw only painted clouds winding about, and he could not tell east from west. The Divine King commanded the cloud-blower to sweep them away. A man in the courtyard of the hall pursed his lips and blew once, and the sky was bright.
There was no hill, no rock, no cliff of stone. He saw only a world flat and wide like a go board, some tens of li across. Flowers of jade and trees of jade were planted in rows within it, golden sand was spread and a golden wall ran round it, and the corridors and courtyards and steps were all laid with bricks of blue glass, so that light and shadow lay steeped together.
神王命二人，指揮觀覽，行到一樓，名曰朝元之樓，純是玻瓈所成，飾以珠玉，錯以金碧，登之若凌虛焉。其層十級。生欲盡登，使者曰：「神王以神力自登，僕等亦不能盡覽矣。」蓋上級，與雲霄幷，非塵凡可及，生登七層而下。
The Divine King commanded two men to point things out to him. As they went they came to a tower named Jowon Tower (朝元之樓). It was made wholly of quartz (玻瓈), adorned with pearl and jade and worked over with gold and green, and to climb it was like riding upon the empty air. It had ten stories.
Han wished to climb them all, but the guides said, "The Divine King goes up by his own holy strength. Even we cannot see it all."
The upper stories stood level with the clouds of heaven, and were not to be reached from the world of dust. Han climbed to the seventh story and came down.
又到一閣，名曰凌虛之閣。生問曰：「此閣何用？」曰：「此神王朝天之時，整其儀仗，飾其衣冠之處。」生請曰：「願觀儀仗。」使者，引至一處，有一物，如圓鏡，燁燁有光，眩目不可諦視。生曰：「此何物也？」曰：「電母之鏡。」又有鼓，大小相稱。生欲擊之。使者止之曰：「若一擊，則百物皆震，卽雷公之鼓也。」又有一物，如橐籥。生欲搖之。使者復止之曰：「若一搖，則山石盡崩，大木斯拔，卽哨風之橐也。」又有一物，如拂箒，而水甕在邊。生欲灑之。使者又止之曰：「若一灑，洪水滂沱，懷山襄陵。」生曰：「然則何乃不置噓雲之器？」曰：「雲則神王，神力所化，非機括可做。」生又曰：「雷公電母，風伯雨師，何在？」曰：「天帝囚於幽處，使不得遊，王出則斯集矣。」其餘器具，不能盡識。
They came to another building named Neungheo Pavilion (凌虛之閣). Han asked, "What is this building used for?"
They said, "This is where the Divine King puts his state in order and dresses his robe and cap when he goes to the court of heaven."
Han asked, "I should like to see the state he goes in."
The guides led him to a place where there was a thing like a round mirror, flashing with light, so dazzling that he could not look at it closely.
Han said, "What is this thing?"
They said, "It is the mirror of the Mother of Lightning (電母)."
There were drums as well, large and small in due proportion. Han wished to strike one, but the guides stopped him. "If you strike it once, all things will shake. That is the drum of the Duke of Thunder (雷公)."
There was another thing like a bellows. Han wished to shake it, but the guides stopped him again. "If you shake it once, hill and rock will all fall down and the great trees will be torn up. That is the bellows that calls the wind."
There was another thing like a whisk, with a water jar beside it. Han wished to sprinkle with it, but the guides stopped him again. "If you sprinkle once, a great flood will pour down and hold the hills in its arms and rise above the ridges."
Han said, "Then why is there no vessel here for blowing out the clouds?"
They said, "The clouds are made by the holy strength of the Divine King. They are not something a device can make."
Han asked again, "Where are the Duke of Thunder and the Mother of Lightning, the Earl of Wind and the Master of Rain?"
They said, "The Lord of Heaven has shut them up in a hidden place so that they cannot roam. When the King goes out they gather at once."
The rest of the gear he could not make out at all.
又有長廊，連亘數里，戶牖鎖以金龍之鑰。生問：「此何處？」使者曰：「此神王，七寶之藏也。」周覽許時，不能遍見。生曰：「欲還。」使者曰：「唯。」生將還，其門戶重重，迷不知其所之，命使者而先導焉。
There was also a long corridor running on for several li, its doors and windows locked with a golden dragon lock. Han asked, "What place is this?"
The guides said, "This is the storehouse of the seven treasures of the Divine King."
He looked about for a long while and still could not see it all. Han said, "I should like to go back." The guides said, "As you wish."
As Han was about to go back the doors and gateways lay fold upon fold, and he grew lost and did not know where he was going, so he had the guides lead the way before him.
生到本座，致謝於王曰：「厚蒙恩榮，周覽佳境。」再拜而別。於是，神王以珊瑚盤，盛明珠二顆，氷綃二匹，爲贐行之資，拜別門外。三神同時拜辭，三神乘輦直返。復命二使者，持穿山簸水之角，揮以送之。一人謂生曰：「可登吾背，閉目半餉。」生如其言。一人揮角先導，恰似登空，唯聞風水聲，移時不絶，聲止開目，但偃臥居室而已。
Han came to his own seat again and thanked the King. He said, "I have received your kindness and your favor in full measure and have looked round upon this fair place." He bowed twice and took his leave.
Then the Divine King heaped a coral tray with two bright pearls and two bolts of silk like ice, to serve him as provision for the road, and bowed to him outside the gate as they parted. The three gods took their leave at the same time, and the three gods rode off in their palanquins and went straight back.
He commanded the two guides again to take the horn that pierces mountains and winnows waters and to swing it as they saw him off. One of them said to Han, "Climb on my back and shut your eyes for a moment."
Han did as he was told. The other swung the horn and led the way, and it was just like rising into the air. He heard only the sound of wind and water, going on for a long while without a break, and when the sound stopped and he opened his eyes he was lying in the room where he lived, and nothing more.
生出戶視之，大星初稀，東方向明，鷄三鳴而更五點矣。急探其懷而視之，則珠綃在焉。生藏之巾箱，以爲至寶，不肯示人。其後，生不以名爲懷，入名山，不知所終。
Han went out of the door and looked. The great stars were just growing few and the east was turning bright, and the cock had crowed three times, and it was the fifth mark of the fifth watch.
He felt quickly in his breast and looked, and the pearls and the silk were there. Han hid them in a cloth box and made them his greatest treasure, and he would not show them to anyone.
After that Han set no store by fame. He went into a famous mountain, and no one knows where he ended.