- Were there not the fearless and truthful annalists of old? (translation seems different from original here)
Was there not the disinterested chivalry of Chang Liang? the unswerving devotion of Su Wu?
Did not Yen Yen say they had headless generals in his district, but none who surrendered their allegiance?
    Was not an emperor's robe splashed with blood that might not be washed away?
And the teeth of Chang Hsün? - the tongue of Yen Hsi?
- the guileless honesty of Kuan Ning, pure as the clearest ice?
- the martial genius of K'ung Ming, the admiration of Gods and men?
- (omitted?)
- the oath of Tsu T'i - the tablet dashed in the rebel's face?

"Such is this grand and glorious spirit which endureth for all generations;
and which, linked with the sun and moon, knows neither beginning nor end.
The foundation of all that is great and good in heaven and earth,
it is itself born from the everlasting obligations which are due by man to man.

"Alas! the fates were against me; I was without resource.
Bound with fetters, hurried away toward the north,
death would have been sweet indeed; but that boon was refused.

"My dungeon is lighted by the will-o'-the-wisp alone: no breath of spring cheers the murky solitude in which I dwell.
The ox and the barb herd together in one stall: the rooster and the phoenix feed together from one dish.
Exposed to mist and dew, I had many times thought to die;
and yet, through the seasons of two revolving years, disease hovered around me in vain.

The dark, unhealthy soil to me became Paradise itself.
For there was that within me which misfortune could not steal away.
And so I remained firm, gazing at the white clouds floating over my head,

and bearing in my heart a sorrow boundless as the sky.
The sun of those dead heroes has long since set, but their record is before me still.
And, while the wind whistles under the eaves, I open my books and read; and lo! in their presence my heart glows with a borrowed fire."
(Return)

在齊太史簡，在晉董狐筆。
在秦張良椎，在漢蘇武節。
為嚴將軍頭，為嵇侍中血。
為張睢陽齒，為顏常山舌。
或為遼東帽，清操厲冰雪。
或為出師表，鬼神泣壯烈。
或為渡江楫，慷慨吞胡羯。
或為擊賊笏，逆豎頭破裂。

是氣所磅礡，凜烈萬古存。
當其貫日月，生死安足論。
地維賴以立，天柱賴以尊。
三綱實系命，道義為之根。

嗟予遘陽九，隸也實不力。
楚囚纓其冠，傳車送窮北。
鼎鑊甘如飴，求之不可得。

陰房闐鬼火，春院閟天黑。
牛驥同一皂，雞棲鳳凰食。
一朝蒙霧露，分作溝中瘠。
如此再寒暑，百沴自闢易。

哀哉沮洳場，為我安樂國。
豈有他繆巧，陰陽不能賊。
顧此耿耿在，仰視浮雲白。

悠悠我心悲，蒼天曷有極。
哲人日已遠，典刑在夙昔。
風檐展書讀，古道照顏色。
(Return)