Dismissal from Office世説新語 黜免第二十八
1If it is rebellion he should be put to death, and if he is mad, where is he to be sent?
諸葛厷在西朝，少有清譽，為王夷甫所重，時論亦以擬王。後為繼母族黨所讒，誣之為狂逆。將遠徙，友人王夷甫之徒，詣檻車與別。厷問：「朝廷何以徙我？」王曰：「言卿狂逆。」厷曰：「逆則應殺，狂何所徙？」
When Zhuge Hong was at the western court, he had a pure name from his youth and was esteemed by Wang Yifu, and the judges of the day also ranked him with Wang.
Later he was slandered by his stepmother's kin, who falsely charged him with madness and rebellion.
As he was about to be banished far away, his friend Wang Yifu and the others came up to the prison cart to part from him.
Zhuge Hong asked, "Why does the court send me away?"
Wang said, "They say you are mad and rebellious, sir."
Zhuge Hong said, "If it is rebellion he should be put to death, and if he is mad, where is he to be sent?"
Interlinear notes 1
厷已見。
Hong has already appeared.
2Its bowels were all cut through, inch by inch
桓公入蜀，至三峽中，部伍中有得猨子者。其母緣岸哀號，行百餘里不去，遂跳上船，至便即絕。破視其腹中，腸皆寸寸斷。公聞之，怒，命黜其人。
Lord Huan entered Shu, and when he reached the Three Gorges a man in the ranks caught a young gibbon.
Its mother followed along the bank, crying out in grief, and for more than a hundred li she would not leave. At last she leapt onto the boat, and as she came aboard she died at once.
When they cut her open and looked inside her belly, the bowels were all cut through, inch by inch.
When Lord Huan heard of it he was angry, and he ordered that the man be dismissed.
Interlinear notes 1
《荊州記》曰：「峽長七百里，兩岸連山，略無絕處，重巖疊障，隱天蔽日。常有高猿長嘯，屬引清遠。漁者歌曰：『巴東三峽巫峽長，猿鳴三聲淚沾裳。』」
The Jingzhou ji says, "The gorges run seven hundred li, and on both banks the mountains are joined with hardly a break. Layered cliffs and piled screens of rock hide the sky and shut out the sun. There are always gibbons high up crying long, and the sound is drawn out clear and far. A fisherman's song runs, 'Of the Three Gorges of Badong the Wu Gorge is longest, and at three cries of the gibbon the tears wet your gown.'"
3He only wrote the four characters, "Tut, tut, what a strange business"
殷中軍被廢，在信安，終日恆書空作字。揚州吏民尋義逐之，竊視，唯作「咄咄怪事」四字而已。
Yin of the Central Army, having been cast out of office, was living at Xin'an, and all day long he kept writing characters in the air.
The clerks and people of Yangzhou, seeking the sense of it, followed him and watched in secret. He only wrote the four characters, "Tut, tut, what a strange business."
Interlinear notes 1
《晉陽秋》曰：「初，浩以中軍將軍鎮壽陽，羌姚襄上書歸降。後有罪，浩陰圖誅之。會關中有變，符健死。浩偽率軍而行，云『修復山陵』。襄前驅，恐，遂反。軍至山桑，聞襄將至，棄輜重馳保譙。襄至，據山桑，焚其舟實。至壽陽，略流民而還。浩士卒多叛，征西溫乃上表黜浩，撫軍大將軍奏免浩，除名為民。浩馳還謝罪。既而遷于東陽信安縣。」
The Jinyang qiu says, "At first Yin Hao, as General of the Central Army, guarded Shouyang, and Yao Xiang of the Qiang sent up a letter of surrender. Later, when Yao Xiang was at fault, Yin Hao secretly plotted to have him beheaded. It happened that there was a change within the passes and Fu Jian died. Yin Hao falsely led out his army and said that he was going to repair and recover the imperial tombs. Yao Xiang went in the van, and in his fear he turned and rebelled. When the army reached Shansang and heard that Yao Xiang was coming, Yin Hao abandoned his baggage carts and galloped off to hold Qiao. Yao Xiang came, took Shansang, and burned his boats and stores. He reached Shouyang, plundered the drifting people, and went back. Many of Yin Hao's soldiers deserted, and so Huan Wen, General Who Subdues the West, sent up a memorial asking that Yin Hao be cast out, and the Grand General Who Nurtures the Army memorialized to relieve Yin Hao of office, strike his name from the rolls, and make him a commoner. Yin Hao hurried back and begged pardon for his offense. Soon afterward he was moved to Xin'an county in Dongyang."
4Sharing one dish they still do not help one another. How much less in danger and hardship?
桓公坐有參軍椅烝薤不時解，共食者又不助，而椅終不放，舉坐皆笑。桓公曰：「同盤尚不相助，況復危難乎？」敕令免官。
At Lord Huan's table there was an adjutant who took up a steamed leek, and it would not come apart in time.
Those eating with him did not help him either, and the adjutant in the end would not let go, so that the whole table laughed.
Lord Huan said, "Sharing one dish they still do not help one another. How much less in danger and hardship?"
He gave orders that the man be relieved of his office.
5He set a man on top of a hundred-foot tower and carried the ladder away
殷中軍廢後，恨簡文曰：「上人著百尺樓上，儋梯將去。」
After Yin of the Central Army had been cast out, he bore a grudge against Emperor Jianwen and said, "He set a man on top of a hundred-foot tower and carried the ladder away."
Interlinear notes 1
《續晉陽秋》曰：「浩雖廢黜，夷神委命，雅詠不輟，雖家人不見其有流放之戚。外生韓伯始隨至徙所，周年還都，浩素愛之，送至水側，乃詠曹顏遠詩曰：『富貴它人合，貧賤親戚離。』因泣下。」其悲見于外者，唯此一事而已。則「書空」、「去梯」之言，未必皆實也。
The Xu Jinyang qiu says, "Though Yin Hao was cast out and dismissed, he kept his spirit level and left himself to fate, and he did not cease his elegant chanting. Even those of his household did not see in him the sorrow of a man banished. His sister's son Han Bo went with him at first as far as the place of his exile, and when after a year he returned to the capital, Yin Hao, who had always been fond of him, saw him off to the waterside. There he chanted a poem of Cao Yanyuan, 'In wealth and rank strangers gather, and in poverty and low estate kinsmen depart,' and at this his tears fell." What showed of his grief on the outside was this one thing alone. If so, then the words about writing in the air and about carrying the ladder away are not necessarily all true.
6I cannot but feel the grudge of the broken steamer
鄧竟陵免官後赴山陵，過見大司馬桓公。公問之曰：「卿何以更瘦？」鄧曰：「有愧於叔達，不能不恨於破甑！」
After Deng of Jingling had been relieved of his office he went to the imperial tombs, and on the way he called on Lord Huan the Grand Marshal.
Lord Huan asked him, "Why have you grown thinner, sir?"
Deng said, "I am put to shame before Shuda, for I cannot but feel the grudge of the broken steamer."
Interlinear notes 2
《大司馬寮屬名》曰：「鄧遐字應玄，陳郡人，平南將軍岳之子。勇力絕人，氣蓋當世，時人方之樊噲。為桓溫參軍，數從溫征伐，歷竟陵太守。枋頭之役，溫既懷恥忿，且憚遐，因免遐官，病卒。」
The Dasima liaoshu ming says, "Deng Xia's courtesy name was Yingxuan, and he was a man of Chenjun and the son of Deng Yue, General Who Pacifies the South. In daring and strength he surpassed other men, and his spirit covered the age, so that the men of the time matched him with Fan Kuai. He became Huan Wen's adjutant, followed Huan Wen often on his campaigns, and served as grand warden of Jingling. At the battle of Fangtou, Huan Wen, already harboring shame and anger and also wary of Deng Xia, relieved Deng Xia of his office for it, and Deng Xia fell ill and died."
《郭林宗別傳》曰：「鉅鹿孟敏，字叔達，敦朴質直。客居太原，雜處凡俗，未有所名。嘗至市買甑，荷儋墮地壞之，徑去不顧。適遇林宗，見而異之，因問曰：『壞甑可惜，何以不顧？』客曰：『甑既已破，視之何益？』林宗賞其介決，因以知其德性，謂必為美士，勸令讀書。遊學十年，遂知名，三府並辟，不就。東夏以為美賢。」
The Guo Linzong biezhuan says, "Meng Min of Julu, whose courtesy name was Shuda, was honest and plain, simple and straight. He lived as a stranger in Taiyuan, mixed in among common folk, and had as yet no name. He once went to the market and bought a steamer, and as he carried it on his shoulder he let it fall to the ground and broke it, but he went straight on without looking back. He happened to meet Linzong, who saw him and thought him remarkable, and so asked him, 'It is a pity about the broken steamer. Why do you not look back at it?' The stranger said, 'The steamer is broken already. What good is there in looking at it?' Linzong admired his firm decision, and knowing thereby his virtue and nature, he said he would surely become a fine gentleman and urged him to study. He went about studying for ten years and in the end became known, and when the three offices all summoned him he did not take up the post. The eastern lands held him a fine and worthy man."
7If the great course of fortune has gone, I ask leave to clear the way for a worthy man
桓宣武既廢太宰父子，仍上表曰：「應割近情，以存遠計。若除太宰父子，可無後憂。」簡文手答表曰：「所不忍言，況過於言？」宣武又重表，辭轉苦切。簡文更答曰：「若晉室靈長，明公便宜奉行此詔。如大運去矣，請避賢路！」桓公讀詔，手戰流汗，於此乃止。太宰父子，遠徙新安。
Huan Xuanwu, having already cast out the Grand Steward and his son, went on to send up a memorial saying, "You should cut off near feelings and hold to the distant plan. If you do away with the Grand Steward and his son, there will be no trouble afterward."
Emperor Jianwen answered the memorial in his own hand. "This is what I cannot bear to speak of. How much less what goes beyond speech?"
Xuanwu sent up another memorial, and his words turned bitter and pressing.
Emperor Jianwen answered again, "If the house of Jin is blessed and long-lived, then you would do well to carry out this edict, my lord. If the great course of fortune has gone, I ask leave to clear the way for a worthy man."
When Lord Huan read the edict his hand shook and he broke into sweat, and at this he stopped.
The Grand Steward and his son were banished far away to Xin'an.
Interlinear notes 1
《司馬晞傳》曰：「晞字道升，元帝第四子。初封武陵王，拜太宰。少不好學，尚武凶恣。時太宗輔政，晞以宗長不得執權，常懷憤慨，欲因桓溫入朝殺之。太宗即位，新蔡王晃首辭，引與晞及子綜謀逆。有司奏晞等斬刑，詔原之，徙新安。晞未敗，四五年中，喜為挽歌，自搖大鈴，使左右習和之。又燕會，使人作新安人歌舞離別之辭，其聲甚悲，後果徙新安。」
The Sima Xi zhuan says, "Sima Xi's courtesy name was Daosheng, and he was the fourth son of Emperor Yuan. He was first enfeoffed as Prince of Wuling and appointed Grand Steward. In his youth he did not care for study. He prized arms and was violent and willful. At that time Taizong was assisting in government, and Sima Xi, being the elder of the clan and yet unable to hold power, always harbored indignation, and he meant to kill Huan Wen when he came to court. When Taizong took the throne, Sima Huang, Prince of Xincai, was the first to speak out, and he drew in Sima Xi and his son Sima Zong as plotters of rebellion. The officers in charge memorialized that Sima Xi and the rest be put to the sword, but by edict he was pardoned and moved to Xin'an. In the four or five years before his fall, Sima Xi had liked to sing dirges, shaking a great bell himself and making those about him practice singing along. Also at his feasts he had men compose words of parting, sung and danced as by the people of Xin'an, and the sound of it was very sad. Later he was indeed moved to Xin'an."
8The pagoda tree sways, but it has no will to live any longer
桓玄敗後，殷仲文還為大司馬咨議，意似二三，非復往日。大司馬府聽前，有一老槐，甚扶疎。殷因月朔，與眾在聽，視槐良久，嘆曰：「槐樹婆娑，無復生意！」
After Huan Xuan fell, Yin Zhongwen came back and became adviser to the Grand Marshal, but his mind seemed divided and he was no longer what he had been in former days.
Before the hall of the Grand Marshal's office there was an old pagoda tree, very full and spreading.
On the first day of the month Yin was in the hall with the rest, and he looked at the pagoda tree a long while and sighed. "The pagoda tree sways, but it has no will to live any longer."
Interlinear notes 1
《晉安帝紀》曰：「桓玄敗，殷仲文歸京師，高祖以其衛從二后，且以大信宣令，引為鎮軍長史。自以名輩先達，位遇至重，而後來謝混之徒，皆疇昔之所附也。今比肩同列，常怏然自失，後果徙信安。」
The Jin An di ji says, "When Huan Xuan fell, Yin Zhongwen returned to the capital, and Gaozu, because he had guarded and attended the two empresses and had also proclaimed orders with great good faith, drew him in as Chief Clerk to the General Who Guards the Army. He held that his own name and standing had come through earlier and that his place and treatment were of the highest, yet Xie Hun and the others who came later had all been his hangers-on in days gone by. Now that they stood shoulder to shoulder in the same rank he was always sullen and out of sorts, and later he was indeed moved to Xin'an."
9Looking at the lay of these hills and streams, another Sun Bofu ought to come forth
殷仲文既素有名望，自謂必當阿衡朝政。忽作東陽太守，意甚不平。及之郡，至富陽，慨然嘆曰：「看此山川形勢，當復出一孫伯符！」
Yin Zhongwen, having long had a name and a following, told himself that he would surely hold the balance of the court's government.
When all at once he was made grand warden of Dongyang, he was much put out.
On his way to the commandery he came to Fuyang, and moved by it he sighed, "Looking at the lay of these hills and streams, another Sun Bofu ought to come forth."
Interlinear notes 2
《晉安帝紀》曰：「仲文後為東陽，愈憤怨，乃與桓胤謀反，遂伏誅。仲文嘗照鏡不見頭，俄而難及。」
The Jin An di ji says, "Yin Zhongwen later held Dongyang, and growing yet more angry and resentful he plotted rebellion with Huan Yin, and in the end he was put to death. Yin Zhongwen had once looked into a mirror and had not seen his head, and before long the trouble reached him."
孫策，富春人。故及此而歎。
Sun Ce was a man of Fuchun, and so he came to this place and sighed.