Extravagance and Excess世説新語 汰侈第三十

王隱《晉書》曰：「石崇為荊州刺史，劫奪殺人，以致巨富。」《王丞相德音記》曰：「丞相素為諸父所重，王君夫問王敦：『聞君從弟佳人，又解音律，欲一作妓，可與共來。』遂往。吹笛人有小忘，君夫聞，使黃門階下打殺之，顏色不變。丞相還，曰：『恐此君處世，當有如此事。』」兩說不同，故詳錄。

Wang Yin's Jin shu says, "Shi Chong was Inspector of Jingzhou. He robbed and seized and killed men, and so came to vast wealth." The Wang chengxiang deyin ji says, "The chancellor had always been held in esteem by his uncles. Wang Junfu asked Wang Dun, 'I hear your cousin is a fine man and that he understands music as well. I wish to have the singing girls perform once, and you may come along with him.' So they went. A flute player made a small slip, and when Junfu heard it he had an attendant of the Yellow Gate beat the man to death below the steps, and his own face did not change. When the chancellor returned he said, 'I fear that as this gentleman lives in the world, there will be affairs like this.'" The two accounts do not agree, and so both are set down in full.

《語林》曰：「劉寔詣石崇，如廁，見有絳紗帳大床，茵蓐甚麗，兩婢持錦香囊。寔遽反走，即謂崇曰：『向誤入卿室內。』崇曰：『是廁耳。』」

The Yulin says, "Liu Shi visited Shi Chong and went to the privy. He saw a great couch with crimson gauze curtains, mats and cushions of great beauty, and two maids holding brocade scent bags. Shi turned and hurried out, and said at once to Chong, 'Just now I entered your chamber by mistake.' Chong said, 'That was only the privy.'"

𧟌，一作襬。

For chi (𧟌), one text has bai (襬).

《晉諸公贊》曰：「王愷字君夫，東海人，王肅子也。雖無檢行，而少以才力見名，有在公之稱。既自以外戚，晉氏政寬，又性至豪。舊制，鴆不得過江，為其羽櫟酒中，必殺人。愷為翊軍時，得鴆於石崇而養之，其大如鵝，喙長尺餘，純食蛇虺。司隸奏按愷、崇，詔悉原之，即燒於都街。愷肆其意色，無所忌憚。為後軍將軍，卒，諡曰醜。」

The Jin zhugong zan says, "Wang Kai, styled Junfu, was a man of Donghai and the son of Wang Su. Though he had no restraint in his conduct, he was known while young for his talent and his vigor, and he had the name of serving the public good. He was himself a kinsman of the empress, the government of Jin was lax, and his nature was extravagant in the extreme. By the old rules the zhen bird could not be brought across the Yangtze, because when its feathers are stirred in wine they are certain to kill a man. When Kai was general of the Yi army he obtained a zhen bird from Shi Chong and reared it. It was as large as a goose, its beak was more than a foot long, and it ate nothing but snakes. The intendant of the capital reported that Kai and Chong should be examined, but an edict pardoned them both, and the bird was burned then and there in the street of the capital. Kai gave free rein to his will and his looks, and there was nothing he feared. He became general of the rear army, and when he died he was given the posthumous name Chou, the Ugly."

《晉諸公贊》曰：「崇性好俠，與王愷競相誇衒也。」

The Jin zhugong zan says, "Chong was by nature fond of the knight-errant way, and he vied with Wang Kai in boasting and display."

《相牛經》曰：「牛經出甯戚，傳百里奚。漢世河西薛公得其書，以相牛，千百不失。本以負重致遠，未服輜軿，故文不傳。至魏世，高堂生又傳以與晉宣帝，其後王愷得其書焉。」臣按其《相經》云：「陰虹屬頸，千里。」注曰：「陰虹者，雙筋白尾骨屬頸，甯戚所飯者也。」愷之牛，其亦有陰虹也。《甯戚經》曰：「棰頭欲得高，百體欲得緊，大膁疏肋難齡齝，龍頭突目好跳。又角欲得細，身欲促，形欲得如卷。」

The Xiang niu jing says, "The classic of oxen came from Ning Qi and was handed on to Baili Xi. In the time of Han, Lord Xue of Hexi obtained the book, and judging oxen by it he did not miss one in a thousand. Its use was to carry heavy loads and reach distant places, and it was not applied to harnessing baggage carts, so the text was not handed down. By the time of Wei, Gaotang Sheng handed it on again and gave it to Emperor Xuan of Jin, and after that Wang Kai obtained the book." Your servant has looked into that Xiang jing, which says, "When the shadow rainbow reaches the neck, a thousand li." The commentary says, "The shadow rainbow is a pair of sinews and a white tailbone reaching the neck. It was such an ox that Ning Qi fed." Kai's ox too must have had the shadow rainbow. The Ning Qi jing says, "The mallet head should be high and the whole body tight. If the flanks are large and the ribs sparse, the beast chews its cud with difficulty. A dragon head with bulging eyes leaps well. Again, the horns should be fine, the body should be short, and the form should be as if rolled up."

《續文章志》曰：「崇資產累巨萬金，宅室輿馬，僭擬王者。庖膳必窮水陸之珍。後房百數，皆曳紈綉，珥金翠，而絲竹之蓺，盡一世之選。築榭開沼，殫極人巧。與貴戚羊琇、王愷之徒競相高以侈靡，而崇為居最之首，琇等每愧羡，以為不及也。」

The Xu wenzhang zhi says, "Chong's holdings and goods piled up to a million in gold, and his house and his rooms, his carriages and his horses, presumed to match a king's. The food of his kitchen had to exhaust the rarities of water and land. The women of his back apartments were counted by hundreds, and all of them trailed fine silks and wore gold and kingfisher feathers, while in the arts of string and flute they were the choice of a whole age. He raised pavilions and opened ponds, and used up the utmost of human craft. With Yang Xiu and Wang Kai and their sort, kinsmen of the empress, he vied to be the highest in luxury and dissipation, and since Chong held the first place among them, Xiu and the others were always ashamed and envious, and thought themselves his inferiors."

《南州異物志》曰：「珊瑚生大秦國，有洲在漲海中，距其國七八百里，名珊瑚樹洲。底有盤石，水深二十餘丈，珊瑚生於石上。初生白，軟弱似菌。國人乘大船，載鐵網，先沒在水下，一年便生網目中，其色尚黃，枝柯交錯，高三四尺，大者圍尺餘。三年色赤，便以鐵鈔發其根，繫鐵網於船，絞車舉網還裁鑿，恣意所作。若過時不鑿，便枯索蟲蠱。其大者輸之王府，細者賣之。」《廣志》曰：「珊瑚大者，可為車軸。」

The Nanzhou yiwu zhi says, "Coral grows in the country of Da Qin. There is an isle in the Zhang Sea, seven or eight hundred li from that country, named Shanhushu, the isle of the coral trees. Below there is a flat rock, the water is more than twenty zhang deep, and the coral grows on the rock. When it first grows it is white, soft and weak like a mushroom. The men of that country take a large ship and load an iron net, and first sink it below the water, and in one year the coral grows up through the mesh of the net. Its color is still yellow then, its branches cross one another, its height is three or four feet, and the large ones are more than a foot around. In three years the color turns red, and then they cut the roots away with an iron hook, tie the iron net to the ship, raise the net with a windlass, and bring it back to be trimmed and carved into whatever shape they please. If the season passes and it is not carved, it withers and dries and the worms eat it. The large ones are sent in to the king's storehouse, and the small ones are sold." The Guang zhi says, "A large piece of coral can be made into a carriage axle."

《晉諸公贊》曰：「濟與從兄恬不平，濟為河南尹，未拜，行過王宮，吏不時下道，濟於車前鞭之，有司奏免官。論者以濟為不長者。尋轉太僕，而王恬已見委任，濟遂斥外。」

The Jin zhugong zan says, "Ji was on bad terms with his elder cousin Wang Tian. When Ji was made intendant of Henan and had not yet received the appointment, he passed by the royal palace, and a clerk did not leave the road in time, so Ji whipped him in front of his carriage, and the officer in charge submitted that he be removed from office. Those who discussed it held that Ji was no elder. Before long he was moved to be grand coachman, but Wang Tian had already been given a charge, and so Ji was in the end cast out of the capital."

溝一作埒。

For gou, one text has lie.

《家語》曰：「顏回字子淵，魯人。少孔子二十九歲，而髮白，三十二歲蚤死。」原憲已見。

The Jiayu says, "Yan Hui, styled Ziyuan, was a man of Lu. He was twenty-nine years younger than Confucius, his hair turned white, and he died early at thirty-two." Yuan Xian has appeared before.

《史記》曰：「端木賜字子貢，衛人。嘗相魯，家累千金，終於齊。」

The Shi ji says, "Duanmu Ci, styled Zigong, was a man of Wey. He was once chancellor of Lu, his house piled up a thousand in gold, and he ended his days in Qi."

原憲以甕為巨牖。

Yuan Xian made a great window out of a jar.

朱鳳《晉書》曰：「彭城穆王權，字子輿，宣帝弟馗子。太始元年封。」

Zhu Feng's Jin shu says, "Sima Quan, Prince Mu of Pengcheng, styled Ziyu, was the son of Sima Kui, the younger brother of Emperor Xuan. He was enfeoffed in the first year of Taishi."

俗以牛心為貴，故羲之先餐之。

Custom held the ox's heart to be precious, and so Xizhi was given it to eat first.