The Country of Jieshuangna羯霜那國
羯霜那國。周千四五百里。土宜風俗同颯秣建國。從此西南行二百餘里入山。山路崎嶇谿徑危險。既絕人里又少水草。東南山行三百餘里入鐵門。
The country of Jieshuangna is one thousand four or five hundred li around. What the soil suits and the customs are the same as in the country of Samojian. From here go southwest more than two hundred li and you enter the mountains. The mountain road is rough and the valley paths are perilous. The dwellings of people come to an end, and water and grass are scarce. Go southeast through the mountains more than three hundred li and you enter the Iron Gate.
2The Iron Gate
鐵門者。左右帶山。山極峭峻。雖有狹徑。加之險阻。兩傍石壁其色如鐵。既設門扉又以鐵鋦。多有鐵鈴懸諸戶扇。因其險固遂以爲名。
The Iron Gate has mountains girding it left and right, and the mountains are utterly sheer. There is a narrow path, but it is steep and blocked besides. The rock walls on both sides are the color of iron. Doors were set there, and clamped with iron as well, and many iron bells were hung on the leaves of the doors. From its steepness and strength the name was taken at last.
3The land of Duhuoluo
出鐵門至覩貨邏國。其地南北千餘里東西三千餘里。東阨葱嶺西接波刺斯。南大雪山北據鐵門。縛芻大河中境西流。自數百年王族絕嗣。酋豪力競各擅君長。依川據險。分爲二十七國。雖畫野區分總役屬突厥。氣序既溫疾疫亦衆。冬末春初霖雨相繼。故此境已南濫波已北。其國風土並多溫疾。而諸僧徒以十二月十六日入安居。三月十五日解安居。斯乃據其多雨。亦是設教隨時也。其俗則志性恇怯容貌鄙陋。粗知信義不甚欺詐。語言去就稍異諸國。字源二十五言。轉而相生。用之備物。書以橫讀自左向右。文記漸多逾廣窣利。多衣㲲少服褐。貨用金銀等錢。模樣異於諸國。
Come out of the Iron Gate and you reach the country of Duhuoluo. Its land is more than a thousand li from north to south and more than three thousand li from east to west. On the east it is hemmed in by the Pamirs, and on the west it touches Bolasi. To the south are the Great Snow Mountains, and to the north it has the Iron Gate at its back. The great Bochu River passes through the middle of it and flows west. For several hundred years the royal house has had no heir, and the chiefs have contended by force, each holding lordship of his own. They lean on the rivers and hold the steep places, and they are divided into twenty-seven countries. Though the fields are marked out and parted, all alike are bound to the Turks and serve them. The climate is warm, and so plagues are frequent. At the end of winter and the beginning of spring the long rains follow one upon another, and so from this border south to north of Lanbo the lands of those countries have much fever. For this reason the monks enter the retreat on the sixteenth day of the twelfth month and break the retreat on the fifteenth day of the third month. This follows the abundance of rain, and it is also the teaching set out to suit the season. In their customs they are timid in spirit and mean in looks. They know faith and duty roughly, and do not greatly cheat. Their speech and their bearing differ a little from the many countries. The roots of their letters are twenty-five, and these turn and give birth to one another, and serve for all things. They write across, and read from the left toward the right. Their written records have grown many, and are broader than those of Suli. They wear cotton much and coarse hemp little. For money they use coins of gold and silver and the like, and the pattern differs from that of the many countries.
Interlinear notes 1
舊曰吐火羅國訛也
In old days it was called the country of Tuhuoluo. This is wrong.
順縛芻河北下流至呾蜜國。
Follow the Bochu River down to the north and you come to the country of Danmi.