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《易》称“《遯》之时义大矣哉”。 又曰：“不事王侯，高尚其事。 ”是以尧称则天，不屈颍阳之高； 武尽美矣，终全孤竹之洁。 自兹以降，风流弥繁，长往之轨未殊，而感致之数匪一。 或隐居以求其志，或回避以全其道，或静已以镇其躁，或去危以图其安，或垢俗以动其概，或疵物以激其清。 然观其甘心畎亩之中，憔悴江海之上，岂必亲鱼鸟、乐林草哉！ 亦云性分所至而已。 故蒙耻之宾，屡黜不去其国； 蹈海之节，千乘莫移其情。 适使矫易去就，则不能相为矣。 彼虽□有类沽名者，然而蝉蜕嚣埃之中，自致寰区之外，异夫饰智巧以逐浮利者乎！ 荀卿有言曰，“志意修则骄富贵，道义重则轻王公”也。 汉室中微，王莽篡位，士之蕴藉义愤甚矣。 是时裂冠毁冕，相携持而去之者，盖不可胜数。 杨雄曰：“鸿飞冥冥，弋者何篡焉。 ”言其违患之远也。 光武侧席幽人，求之若不及，旌帛蒲车之所征贲，相望于岩中矣。 若薛方、逢萌，聘而不肯至； 严光、周党、王霸，至而不能屈。 群方咸遂，志士怀仁，斯固所谓“举逸民天下归心”者乎！ 肃宗亦礼郑均而征高凤，以成其节。 自后帝德稍衰，邪{薛女}当朝，处子耿介，羞与卿相等列，至乃抗愤而不顾，多失其中行焉。 盖录其绝尘不反，同夫作者，列之此篇。
The Book of Changes says that in the hour of Withdrawal the meaning of timing is vast indeed. It adds, "They will not wait on lords and princes; they exalt their own calling instead. " So Yao could mirror Heaven and still leave the recluses of Yingyang untroubled in their height; King Wu won perfect renown, yet he still spared the stainless recluses of Mount Guzhu. Afterward the tradition only spread: the path of withdrawal stayed one, but the motives that led men to it multiplied. Some hid to pursue a purpose; some fled to keep the Way intact; some stilled themselves against inner hurry; some quit peril for safety; some smeared themselves in the mire to steel their honor; some scorned the world to sharpen their cleanness. Yet see them content in plowed fields, worn thin along the rivers—surely it was not only love of birds, fish, and wild growth! They were simply following the grain of their own natures, nothing more. Thus men who swallowed humiliation might be cast out again and again yet never quit their homeland; while others who chose the sea's integrity could not be moved by the offer of a thousand chariots. Had you forced them to swap places, none could have stood in another's stead. A few may look like fame-hunters, yet they shed the world's racket and walk outside its borders—far from the clever types angling for hollow gain. Xunzi said, "Refine your intent and you scorn riches and rank; weight your conduct with the Way and you think little of kings and princes." Mid-Han faltered, Wang Mang seized the throne, and every scholar's breast burned with loyal rage. Then came the wave who rent their caps and crowns and marched away together—no reckoning could count them. Yang Xiong wrote, "The wild goose vanishes into the gloom—what can the fowler's string catch? "—meaning how far they flew from harm. Guangwu turned his mat for hidden men and hunted them as if always a step behind—silk summons and rush-wheeled coaches thickly threaded the cliffs. Xue Fang and Feng Meng were called but would not appear; Yan Guang, Zhou Dang, and Wang Ba came yet could not be bowed. Each found his path, and high-minded men kept faith with humaneness—was this not the "raise the recluses and all hearts incline" of the Analects? Emperor Zhang likewise honored Zheng Jun and summoned Gao Feng to crown their resolve. Later the throne's virtue thinned, vicious favorites ruled the hall, and hermits—too proud to sit among ministers—sometimes flamed into defiance and lost the golden mean. Here I record those who shook off the dust and never looked back—true authors of their own lives—and set them in this scroll.
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9高凤
Gao Feng
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野王二老者
The two old men of Yewang
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野王二老者，不知何许人也。 初，光武贰于更始，会关中扰乱，遣前将军邓禹西征，送之于道。 既反，因于野王猎，路见二老者即禽。 光武问曰：“禽何向？ ”并举手西指，言“此中多虎，臣每即禽，虎亦即臣，大王勿往也。 ”光武曰：“苟有其备，虎亦何患。 ”父曰：“何大王之谬邪！ 昔汤即桀于鸣条，而大城于亳； 武王亦即纣于牧野，而大城于郏D27A。 彼二王者，其备非不深也。 是以即人者，人亦即之，虽有其备，庸可忽乎！ ”光武悟其旨，顾左右曰：“此隐者也。 ”将用之，辞而去，莫知所在。
No one knows where the two elders of Yewang came from. When Guangwu still hedged toward Gengshi and Guanzhong boiled, he sent Forward General Deng Yu west and escorted him along the road. On the return hunt at Yewang he met two greybeards about to shoot game. Guangwu asked, "Which way lies the quarry? " Both pointed west: "Tigers swarm there—we hunt them, they hunt us—do not ride that way, great king. " Guangwu said, "With proper precautions, what fear of tigers? " The elder answered, "How wrong you are, great king! Tang seized Jie at Mingtiao, then raised mighty ramparts at Bo; King Wu struck Zhou at Muye, then ringed Jia and Ru with great walls. Neither king lacked deep defenses. He who hunts men is hunted in turn—how can you trust walls alone? " Guangwu understood and murmured to his attendants, "These are hidden sages. " He moved to retain them, but they slipped away—none traced their path.
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向长字子平，河内朝歌人也。 隐居不仕，性尚中和，好通《老》、《易》。 贫无资食，好事者更馈焉，受之取足而反其余。 王莽大司空王邑辟之，连年乃至，欲荐之于莽，固辞乃止。 潜隐于家。 读《易》至《损》、《益》卦，喟然叹曰：“吾已知富不如贫，贵不如贱，但未知死何如生耳。 ”建武中，男女娶嫁既毕，敕断家事勿相关，当如我死也。 于是遂肆意，与同好北海禽庆俱游五岳名山，竟不知所终。
Xiang Chang, styled Ziping, came from Zhaoge in Henei. He lived in reclusion, prized equipoise, and loved plumbing the Laozi and the Changes. Destitute, he lived on neighbors' gifts—taking only what he needed and sending the rest back. Wang Mang's grand minister Wang Yi summoned him; he dragged his feet for years, and when Yi tried to push him at court he refused point-blank. He sank from sight in his own house. At the Sun and Yi hexagrams he sighed, "I know wealth cannot beat poverty nor rank a humble station—but how death stacks against life I cannot tell. " In the Jianwu years, once his children were wed, he commanded the household to treat him as dead and ask nothing of him. Then he wandered at will with his friend Qin Qing of Beihai across the five sacred peaks until both vanished from record.
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逢萌字子康，北海都昌人也。 家贫，给事县为亭长。 时尉行过亭，萌候迎拜谒，既而掷□叹曰：“大丈夫安能为人役哉！ ”遂去之长安学，通《春秋经》。 时王莽杀其子宇，萌谓友人曰：“三纲绝矣！ 不去，祸将及人。 ”即解冠挂东都城门，归，将家属浮海，客于辽东。
Feng Meng, styled Zikang, was a native of Duchang in Beihai. His home was humble; he clerked as a village headman. When the commandant passed his post, Feng greeted him, then hurled down his headman's tablet and cried, "A grown man cannot be another man's hireling! He left for the capital, studied, and mastered the Spring and Autumn Annals. When Wang Mang murdered his own son Yu, Feng told a friend, "The three cardinal ties are cut! Stay, and calamity will swallow us all. " He hung his cap on the eastern capital gate, fled home, and sailed his family to Liaodong.
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萌素明阴阳，知莽将败，有顷，乃首戴瓦盎，哭于市曰：“新乎新乎！ ”因遂潜藏。
Feng read the omens: seeing Mang's fall, he soon walked the market with an earthen bowl on his head, wailing, "New! New! "—then dropped from sight.
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及光武即位，乃之琅邪劳山，养志修道，人皆化其德。
When Guangwu rose, Feng withdrew to Mount Lao in Langye, nursed his purpose, and won every neighbor by his virtue.
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北海太守素闻其高，遣吏奉谒致礼，萌不答。 太守怀恨而使捕之。 吏叩头曰：“子康大贤，天下共闻，所在之处，人敬如父，往必不获，只自毁辱。 ”太守怒，收之系狱，更发它吏。 行至劳山，人果相率以兵弩捍御。 吏被伤流血，奔而还。 后诏书征萌，托以老耄，迷路东西，语使者云：“朝廷所以征我者，以其有益于政，尚不知方面所在，安能济时乎？ ”即便驾归。 连征不起，以寿终。
The Beihai prefect, hearing of his fame, sent a clerk with gifts; Feng never replied. The prefect, stung, ordered his arrest. The clerk kowtowed: "All the world honors Zikang as a father—send us and we fail, only earning shame. " The prefect jailed the messenger and sent another. At Mount Lao the villagers ringed Feng with bows to shield him. The officers fled bloodied. Later an imperial summons caught him; he pleaded senility, pretended to wander lost, and told the envoy, "If the court wants my counsel, it should notice I cannot find my own doorstep—how may I save the age? " Then he whipped his cart home. Further calls failed; he died in old age.
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初，萌与同郡徐房、平原李子云、王君公相友善，并晓阴阳，怀德秽行。 房与子云养徒各千人，君公遭乱独不去，侩牛自隐。 时人谓之论曰：“避世墙东王君公。”
Feng had been close to Xu Fang, Li Ziyun, and Wang Jungong—fellow students of yin-yang who prized virtue over reputation. Xu and Li each taught a thousand pupils; Wang alone stayed through the chaos, hiding as a cattle broker. Wits rhymed, "East of the wall where the world is shunned stands broker Wang.
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周党字伯况，太原广武人也。 家产千金。 少孤，为宗人所养，而遇之不以理，及长，又不还其财。 党诣乡县讼，主乃归之。 既而散与宗族，悉免遣奴婢，遂至长安游学。
Zhou Dang, styled Bokuang, came from Guangwu in Taiyuan. His clan owned a fortune in gold. Orphaned young, he was raised by kinsmen who robbed him; grown, they still refused his inheritance. He sued in county and commandery until the chief kin relented and restored his share. He then scattered the wealth to kin, freed every bondservant, and rode to Chang'an to study.
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初，乡佐尝众中辱党，党久怀之。 后读《春秋》，闻复仇之义，便辍讲而还，与乡佐相闻，期克斗日。 既交刃，而党为乡佐所伤，困顿。 乡佐服其义，舆归养之，数日方苏，既悟而去。 自此敕身修志，州里称其高。
A village aide had once shamed him in public, and Zhou nursed the grudge. Reading the Spring and Autumn he learned the right of blood feud, broke off classes, challenged the aide, and fixed a duel day. In the fight Zhou fell badly wounded. The aide, awed, carried him home, nursed him until he woke, then Zhou slipped away. After that he schooled himself, and the canton hailed his nobility.
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及王莽窃位，托疾杜门。 自后贼暴从横，残灭郡县，唯至广武，过城不入。
When Wang Mang seized the throne, Zhou feigned sickness and barred his gate. Later rebels ravaged commanderies, yet at Guangwu they marched past without entering.
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建武中，征为议郎，以病去职，遂将妻子居黾池。 复被征，不得已，乃着短布单衣，穀皮绡头，待见尚书。 及光武引见，党伏而不谒，自陈愿守所志，帝乃许焉。
Jianwu brought a summons as remonstrance official; pleading illness he quit and moved his household to Mianchi. Called again, he donned rough cloth, a bark-fiber kerchief, and presented himself to the masters of writing. Before Guangwu he lay flat and refused the court bow, begging to keep his reclusive vow; the emperor allowed it.
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博士范升奏毁党曰：“臣闻尧不须许由、巢父，而建号天下； 周不待伯夷、叔齐，而王道以成。 伏见太原周党、东海王良、山阳王成等，蒙受厚恩，使者三聘，乃肯就车。 及陛见帝廷，党不以礼屈，伏而不谒，偃蹇骄悍，同时俱逝。 党等文不能演义，武不能死君，钓采华名，庶几三公之位。 臣愿与坐云台之下，考试图国之道。 不如臣言，伏虚妄之罪。 而敢私窃虚名，夸上求高，皆大不敬。 ”书奏，天子以示公卿。 诏曰：“自古明王圣主，必有不宾之士。 伯夷、叔齐不食周粟，太原周党不受朕禄，亦各有志焉。 其赐帛四十匹。 ”党遂隐居黾池，著书上下篇而终。 邑人贤而祠之。
Erudite Fan Sheng attacked him: "Yao needed neither Xu You nor Chao Father to rule the world; Zhou needed neither Bo Yi nor Shu Qi to perfect the royal Way. Yet Taiyuan's Zhou Dang, Donghai's Wang Liang, and Shanyang's Wang Cheng soaked up imperial grace and only mounted the coach after three embassies. At court they sprawled without bowing—proud, rude, and gone together. They wield neither brush nor blade for the throne—only angle for empty fame and dream of the three excellencies. Let me sit them beneath the Cloud Terrace and test their statecraft. If I lie, I accept the charge of slander. Privately trading on hollow renown to dazzle the throne is grave disrespect. " The emperor circulated Fan's memorial among the high ministers. The edict read, "Every wise king has guests who refuse to bend. Bo Yi and Shu Qi spurned Zhou grain; Taiyuan's Zhou Dang spurns our stipend—each follows his star. Gift him forty bolts of silk. " Zhou Dang hid at Mianchi, wrote a two-part book, and died. His townsfolk judged him worthy and built him a shrine.
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初，党与同郡谭贤伯升、雁门殷谟君长，俱守节不仕王莽世。 建武中，征，并不到。
Zhou had shared exile principles with Tan Xian Borsheng of his commandery and Yin Mo Junzhang of Yanmen under Wang Mang. Under Guangwu both men were summoned; neither appeared.
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王霸字儒仲，太原广武人也。 少有清节。 及王莽篡位，弃冠带，绝交宦。 建武中，征到尚书，拜称名，不称臣。 有司问其故。 霸曰：“天子有所不臣，诸侯有所不友。 ”司徒侯霸让位于霸。 阎阳毁之曰：“太原俗党，儒仲颇有其风。 ”遂止。 以病归，隐居守志，茅屋蓬户。 连征，不至，以寿终。
Wang Ba, styled Ruzhong, came from Guangwu in Taiyuan. From youth he kept his conduct stainless. When Wang Mang seized the throne he shed cap and sash and broke with every official tie. Summoned in Jianwu to the masters of writing, he used his personal name in court and refused the title "your subject." The clerks demanded an explanation. Wang Ba answered, "Even the Son of Heaven has men he will not own as ministers; even lords have men they will not claim as friends. " Minister Hou Ba offered him the higher seat. Yan Yang smeared him: "Taiyuan loves cliques, and Ruzhong reeks of it. " Hou dropped the idea. Pleading illness he went home to a rush gate and thatched roof, guarding his vow. Further summons failed; he died at home in old age.
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严光字子陵，一名遵，会稽余姚人也。 少有高名，与光武同游学。 及光武即位，乃变名姓，隐身不见。 帝思其贤，乃令以物色访之。 后齐国上言：“有一男子，披羊裘钓泽中。 ”帝疑其光，乃备安车玄纁，遣使聘之。 三反而后至。 舍于北军。 给床褥，太官朝夕进膳。
Yan Guang, styled Ziling—also called Yan Zun—hailed from Yuyao in Kuaiji. In youth he was already famous and studied abroad with the future Guangwu. When his friend became emperor, Yan changed his name and vanished from sight. The emperor missed his virtue and sent agents to hunt him by description. Qi commandery later reported a man in sheepskin angling in the reeds. Guangwu guessed it was Yan Guang and sent a cushioned coach and black silk to fetch him. The envoy went back and forth three times before he came. They quartered him in the Northern Army camp. The court gave him a bed and daily meals from the imperial kitchen.
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司徒侯霸与光素旧，遣使奉书。 使人因谓光曰：“公闻先生至，区区欲即诣造。 迫于典司，是以不获。 愿因日暮，自屈语言。 ”光不答，乃投札与之，口授曰：“君房足下：位至鼎足，甚善。 怀仁辅义天下悦，阿谀顺旨要领绝。 ”霸得书，封奏之。 帝笑曰：“狂奴故态也。 ”车驾即日幸其馆。 光卧不起，帝即其卧所，抚光腹曰：“咄咄子陵，不可相助为理邪？ ”光又眠不应，良久，乃张目熟视，曰：“昔唐尧著德，巢父洗耳。 士故有志，何至相迫乎！ ”帝曰：“子陵，我竟不能下汝邪？ ”于是升舆叹息而去。
Minister Hou Ba, an old friend, sent a letter by courier. The courier said, "His Lordship burns to call on you at once. Duty chains him—he cannot slip away. He begs the favor of a twilight talk. Yan said nothing, tossed Hou a scrap, and dictated: "Junfang, you stand as one leg of the ruling tripod—well done. Nourish benevolence and aid the right, and the world smiles; flatter power and your throat meets the blade. " Hou sealed the note and forwarded it to the throne. The emperor laughed, "There is the wild friend I remember. " That day the imperial carriage rolled to his door. Yan feigned sleep; Guangwu sat on his couch, patted his belly, and said, "Ziling, Ziling—will you not help me rule? Yan kept his eyes shut, then opened them slowly: "When Yao shone with virtue, Chao Father still washed the taint from his ears. A scholar keeps his own star—why hound him! " Guangwu sighed, "So even I cannot bend you? " He climbed into his carriage, sighed, and rode away.
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复引光入，论道旧故，相对累日。 帝从容问光曰：“朕何如昔时？ ”对曰：“陛下差增于往。 ”因共偃卧，光以足加帝腹上。 明日，太史奏客星犯御坐甚急。 帝笑曰：“朕故人严子陵共卧耳。”
He brought Yan in again; they talked of the past for days on end. Once he asked lightly, "How do I measure against my old self? " Yan answered, "You are a bit improved on the young man I knew. " They shared a couch; Yan stretched his legs across the emperor's belly. Next morning the grand astrologer reported a stray star pressing the throne. The emperor laughed, "Only my old friend Yan Ziling slept beside me.
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除为谏议大夫，不屈，乃耕于富春山，后人名其钓处为严陵濑焉。 建武十七年，复特征，不至。 年八十，终于家。 帝伤惜之，诏下郡县赐钱百万、谷千斛。
Offered the remonstrance post, he refused and farmed Mount Fuchun; posterity named his fishing pool the Yan Rapids. Jianwu 17 brought another extraordinary summons; he stayed away. He died at home at eighty. The emperor mourned and ordered a million cash and a thousand hu of grain for his house.
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井丹字大春，扶风郿人也。 少受业太学，通《五经》，善谈论，故京师为之语曰：“《五经》纷纶井大春。 ”性清高，未尝修刺修人。
Jing Dan, styled Dachun, came from Mei in Fufeng. He studied the Five Classics at the Imperial Academy and shone in debate—hence the capital rhyme: "The Five Classics in glorious tangle—Jing Dachun. " Proud and aloof, he never paid social calls.
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建武末，沛王辅等五王居北宫，皆好宾客，更遣请丹，不能致。 信阳侯阴就，光烈皇后弟也，以外戚贵盛，乃诡说五王，求钱千万，约能致丹，而别使人要劫之。 丹不得已，既至，就故为设麦饭葱叶之食。 丹推去之，曰：“以君侯能供甘旨，故来相过，何其薄乎？ ”更置盛馔，乃食。 及就起，左右进辇。 丹笑曰：“吾闻桀驾人车，岂此邪？ ”坐中皆失色。 就不得已而令去辇。 自是隐闭，不关人事，以寿终。
Late in Jianwu the five princes lodged in the Northern Palace, each fond of retainers; none could lure Jing Dan. Yin Jiu, the empress's brother, boasted to the princes for ten million cash that he could deliver Dan—then had him ambushed and dragged in. Cornered, Jing arrived; Yin served plain wheat porridge and scallions to humiliate him. Jing pushed the bowl away: "I came thinking a marquis could feast a guest—why this beggar's fare? " Yin laid out a rich table; only then did Jing dine. When Yin rose, attendants wheeled up a litter. Jing laughed, "I heard Jie of Xia used men for chariots—is this that? " Every guest blanched. Yin had to send the litter off. After that he barred his gate to the world and died in old age.
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梁鸿字伯鸾，扶风平陵人也。 父让，王莽时为城门校尉，封脩远伯，使奉少昊后，寓于北地而卒。 鸿时尚幼，以遭乱世，因卷席而葬。
Liang Hong, styled Boluan, was from Pingling in Fufeng. His father Liang Rang, under Wang Mang, was colonel of the gates, enfeoffed Baron Xiuyuan to sacrifice to Shaohao, then moved to Beidi and died there. The boy lived in chaos and buried him with only a mat for coffin.
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后受业太学，家贫而尚节介，博览无不通，而不为章句。 学毕，乃牧豕于上林宛中。 曾误遗火，延及它舍。 鸿乃寻访烧者，问所去失，悉以豕偿之。 其主犹以为少。 鸿曰：“无它财，愿以身居作。 ”主人许之。 因为执勤，不懈朝夕。 邻家耆老见鸿非恒人，乃共责让主人，而称鸿长者。 于是始敬异焉，悉还其豕。 鸿不受而去，归乡里。
Later he studied at the Imperial Academy—poor but principled, widely read, scorning pedantic glosses. When school ended he herded swine in the imperial Shanglin preserve. Once he lost a cooking fire that leapt to neighbor huts. He tracked every victim, tallied their losses, and paid in pigs. The neighbors still called it insufficient. Liang said, "I own nothing else—I will work off the debt with my labor. " The landlord agreed. He toiled without slack from dawn to dusk. Elders saw he was no common laborer, scolded the landlord, and hailed Liang as a gentleman. Ashamed, the landlord returned every pig. Liang refused the herd and walked home.
26
势家慕其高节，多欲女之，鸿并绝不娶。 同县孟氏有女，状肥丑而黑，力举石臼，择对不嫁，至年三十。 父母问其故。 女曰：“欲得贤如梁伯鸾者。 ”鸿闻而娉之。 女求作布衣、麻屦，织作筐缉绩之具。 及嫁，始以装饰入门。 七日而鸿不答。 妻乃跪床下请曰：“窃闻夫子高义，简斥数妇，妾亦偃蹇数夫矣。 今而见择，敢不请罪。 ”鸿曰：“吾欲裘褐之人，可与俱隐深山者尔。 今乃衣绮缟，傅粉墨，岂鸿所愿哉？ ”妻曰：“以观夫子之志耳。 妾自有隐居之服。 ”乃更为椎髻，着布衣，操作而前。 鸿大喜曰：“此真梁鸿妻也。 能奉我矣！ ”字之曰德曜，名孟光。
Great houses courted him with daughters; he turned down every match. A Meng girl in his county—plain, dark, strong enough to hoist a mortar—rejected every suitor until thirty. Her parents asked why. She said, "I will marry only a worthy like Liang Boluan. " Liang heard and sent matchmakers. She asked only for homespun robes, hemp shoes, loom, basket, and spindle. On her wedding day she arrived in full paint and silk finery. Liang spoke not a word to her for seven nights. She knelt by the couch: "I know your honor has sent away many wives; I too have spurned many men. Chosen at last, I beg to know my fault. Liang answered, "I sought a woman in leather and homespun to vanish with me into the hills. Yet you come painted and robed in gauze—is that what I had in mind? " She said, "I dressed to read your heart. I keep rough clothes for the life we mean to lead. " She rebraid her hair, donned homespun, and stepped forward to work. Liang exulted, "This is the wife of Liang Hong. She can serve my reclusion! " He gave her the style Deyao—her name was Meng Guang.
27
居有顷，妻曰：“常闻夫子欲隐居避患，今何为默默？ 无乃欲低头就之乎？ ”鸿曰：“诺。 ”乃共入霸陵山中，以耕织为业，咏《诗》、《书》，弹琴以自娱。 仰慕前世高士，而为四皓以来二十四人作颂。 因东出关，过京师，作《五噫之歌》曰：“陟彼北芒兮，噫！ 顾览帝京兮，噫！ 宫室崔嵬兮，噫！ 人之劬劳兮，噫！ 辽辽未央兮，噫！ ”肃宗闻而非之，求鸿不得。 乃易姓运期，名耀，字侯光，与妻子居齐鲁之间。
Soon she asked, "You always meant to flee the world—why sit idle now? Do you mean to bow and take office after all? " Liang said, "You are right. " Together they fled to Mount Baling, farmed and wove, chanted the Odes and Documents, and played the zither for joy. He honored ancient recluses and wrote hymns for twenty-four worthies from the Four Hoaryheads onward. East through the passes he passed Luoyang and sang his "Song of Five Sighs": "I climb the northern ridge—ah! I turn and gaze on the royal city—ah! Palaces rear against the sky—ah! The people labor endless—ah! Boundless, the palace unending—ah! Emperor Zhang heard the song, took offense, and hunted Liang Hong in vain. He changed his name to Yunqi Yao, styled Houguang, and hid with his wife between Qi and Lu.
28
有顷，又去适吴。 将行，作诗曰：
Soon he moved on toward Wu. Before leaving he wrote:
29
逝旧帮兮遐征，将遥集兮东南。 心惙怛兮伤悴，志菲菲兮升降。 欲乘策兮纵迈，疾吾俗兮作谗。 竞举枉兮措直，咸先佞分唌々。 固靡惭兮独建，冀异州兮尚贤。 聊逍遥兮遨嬉，缵仲尼兮周流。 倘云睹兮我悦，遂舍车兮即浮。 过季札兮延陵，求鲁连兮海隅。 虽不察兮光貌，幸神灵兮与休。 惟季春兮华阜，麦含含兮方秀。 哀茂时兮逾迈，愍芳香兮日臭。 悼吾心兮不获，长委结兮焉究！ 口嚣嚣兮余讪，嗟恇恇兮谁留？
I quit my homeland for a distant road, bound to roost in the southeast. Grief tugs my heart; my purpose flickers high and low. I long to ride free, yet loathe a world that trades in malice. The crooked win office while the upright fall; toadies lead while worthies choke. I am not ashamed to stand alone—I trust another land may prize the good. I drift awhile for sport, following Confucius's wide road. If clouds should please me, I will quit the cart and trust myself to the flood. I call at Jizi's Yanling; I seek Lu Zhonglian on the shore. Though I cannot see their faces, the gods at least grant me peace. Late spring on the blooming hill—wheat swelling toward the ear. I mourn the good years racing by; I pity sweet scent turning stale. My heart wins nothing it longs for—this knot—where will it end! The crowd mocks my voice; who, trembling, will remain with me?
30
遂至吴，依大家皋伯通，居庑下，为人赁舂。 每归，妻为具食，不敢于鸿前仰视，举案齐眉。 伯通察而异之，曰：“彼佣能使其妻敬之如此，非凡人也。 ”乃方舍之于家。 鸿潜闭著书十余篇。 疾且困，告主人曰：“昔延陵季子葬子于嬴博之间，不归乡里，慎勿令我子持丧归去。 ”及卒，伯通等为求葬地于吴要离冢傍。 咸曰：“要离烈士，而伯鸾清高，可令相近。 ”葬毕，妻子归扶风。
He reached Wu, lodged with magnate Gao Botong under the eaves, and earned his keep grinding grain. Each night his wife served supper without lifting her eyes, raising the tray to her brows in respect. Gao Botong marveled: "A laborer whose wife honors him so is no common man. " He moved the couple into his hall. Liang Hong shut himself in and wrote a dozen essays. Dying, he told his host, "When Jizi of Yanling buried his son between Ying and Bo he did not send the corpse home—do not let my son haul my bier back to Fufeng. " At his death Gao and friends buried him beside Yaoli the martyr in Wu. All agreed: "Yaoli died for honor; Boluan lived in purity—they should lie side by side. When the rites ended, his family went home to Fufeng.
31
初，鸿友人京兆高恢，少好《老子》，隐于华阴山中。 及鸿东游思恢，作诗曰：“鸟嘤嘤兮友之期，念高子兮仆怀思，相念恢兮爰集兹。 ”二人遂不复相见。 恢亦高抗，终身不仕。
His friend Gao Hui of Jingzhao, who loved the Laozi in youth, had hidden on Mount Huayin. Eastbound, he missed Hui and wrote: "Birds call—friends' season; I long for Gao Zi—my heart dwells here. " They never met again. Hui stayed proud and never served.
32
高凤字文通，南阳叶人也。 少为书生，家以农亩为业，而专精诵读，昼夜不息。 妻尝之田，曝麦于庭，令凤护鸡。 时天暴雨，而凤持竿诵经，不觉潦水流麦。 妻还怪问，凤方悟之。 其后遂为名儒，乃教授于西唐山中。
Gao Feng, styled Wentong, came from Ye in Nanyang. His family farmed, yet he read day and night without pause. His wife once spread grain in the yard for drying and told him to guard it from hens. A cloudburst came; Gao stood reciting with his staff until the runoff swept the grain away. When she returned and asked, he woke to what had happened. He became a renowned teacher in the West Tang hills.
33
邻里有争财者，持兵而斗，凤往解之，不已，乃脱巾叩头，固请曰：“仁义逊让，奈何弃之！ ”于是争者怀感，投兵谢罪。
When neighbors brawled over land with weapons, he intervened; when they would not yield, he tore off his cap, kowtowed, and cried, "Will you throw away humaneness, right, modesty, and yield? " The fighters dropped their arms, ashamed, and begged pardon.
34
凤年老，执志不倦，名声著闻。 太守连召请，恐不得免，自言本巫家，不应为吏，又诈与寡嫂讼田，遂不仕。 建初中，将作大匠任隗举凤直言，到公车，托病逃归。 推其财产，悉与孤兄子。 隐身渔钓，终于家。
In old age he never slackened his purpose; his name spread far. The prefect summoned him relentlessly; to escape office he claimed shaman ancestry unfit for clerking and even feuded in court with his widowed sister-in-law over land. Mid-Jianchu the architect Ren Wei nominated him as blunt and upright; he reached the coach office, pleaded sickness, and bolted home. He signed his estate over to his brother's orphan. He hid among anglers and died at home.
35
论曰：先大夫宣侯，尝以讲道余隙，寓乎逸士之篇。 至《高文通传》，辍而有感，以为隐者也，因著其行事而论之曰：“古者隐逸，其风尚矣。 颍阳洗耳，耻闻禅让； 孤竹长饥，羞食周粟。 或高栖以违行，或疾物以矫情，虽轨迹异区，其去就一也。 若伊人者，志陵青云之上，身晦泥污之下，心名且犹不显，况怨累之为哉！ 与夫委体渊沙，鸣弦揆日者，不其远乎！”
Comment: My late father, Marquis Xuan, while teaching the Way, set his heart on these tales of recluses. At the Life of Gao Wentong he paused, moved, and judged him a true recluse, then wrote: "Ancient withdrawers set a high tone. At Yingyang they washed their ears, shamed by talk of yielding the throne; on Mount Guzhu they starved rather than taste Zhou grain. Some fled aloft to escape the world; some scorned things to steel their purity—different paths, one refusal. Such men aim above the clouds yet hide in the mire—name and heart half-seen—what grudge or bond could snare them? How far from those who drown themselves or tune a lute to count the days!
36
臺佟字孝威，魏郡鄴人也。 隐于武安山，凿穴为居，采药自业。 建初中，州辟，不就。 刺史行部，乃使从事致谒。 佟载病往谢。 刺史乃执贽见佟曰：“孝威居身如是，甚苦，如何？ ”佟曰：“佟幸得保终性命，存神养和。 如明使君奉宣诏书，夕惕庶事，反不苦邪？ ”遂去，隐逸，终不见。
Tai Tong, styled Xiaowei, came from Ye in Wei commandery. He lived in a cave on Mount Wu'an and made his living gathering herbs. Mid-Jianchu the province called him; he stayed away. When the inspector toured the commandery he sent an aide with a visiting card. Tai rode a sick-cart to apologize. The inspector brought gifts and said, "Xiaowei, this life is bitter—why endure it? Tai answered, "I am lucky to finish my span, nursing spirit in peace. You who trumpet edicts and lose sleep over every duty—are you not the one in pain? " He left and was never seen again.
37
韩康字伯休，一名恬休，京兆霸陵人。 家世著姓。 常采药名山，卖于长安市，口不二价，三十余年。 时有女子从康买药，康守价不移。 女子怒曰：“公是韩伯休那？ 乃不二价乎？ ”康叹曰：“我本欲避名，今小女子皆知有我，何用药为？ ”乃遁入霸陵山中。 博士公车连征，不至。 桓帝乃备玄纁之礼，以安车聘之。 使者奉诏造康，康不得已，乃许诺。 辞安车，自乘柴车，冒晨先使者发。 至亭，亭长以韩征君当过，方发人牛修道桥。 及见康柴车幅巾，以为田叟也，使夺其牛。 康即释驾与之。 有顷，使者至，知夺牛翁乃征君也。 使者欲奏杀亭长。 康曰：“此自老子与之，亭长何罪！ ”乃止。 康因中道逃遁，以寿终。
Han Kang, styled Boxiu—also called Tianxiu—was from Baling in Jingzhao. His clan was an old great house. He gathered drugs on famous peaks and sold them in Chang'an at a fixed price for thirty years. A woman tried to haggle; Han would not budge from his price. She snapped, "Are you not Han Boxiu? Is that why you never change your price? " Han sighed, "I meant to hide my name—now even girls know me—why sell herbs? " He vanished into the Baling hills. Erudite office and coach summons piled up unanswered. Emperor Huan sent black silk and a cushioned coach. The envoy cornered him; Han grudgingly agreed. He refused the state coach, hitched a farm cart, and slipped away before dawn ahead of the escort. At a relay station the chief, expecting the summoned gentleman, was drafting peasants and oxen to mend the bridge. Seeing a cart and plain kerchief, he mistook Han for a farmer and seized his ox. Han unyoked the beast and handed it over. Soon the envoy arrived and learned the peasant was the summoned recluse. The envoy wanted the station chief executed. Han said, "I gave him the ox myself—what fault is the chief's? " The matter dropped. Han escaped halfway to the capital and died in old age.
38
矫慎字仲彦，扶风茂陵人也。 少好黄、老，隐遁山谷，因穴为室，仰慕松、乔导引之术。 与马融、苏章乡里并时，融以才博显名，章以廉直称，然皆推先于慎。
Jiao Shen, styled Zhongyan, came from Maoling in Fufeng. In youth he loved Huang-Lao, lived in a cave, and studied the breath arts of the immortals Chisong and Wangzi. He was Ma Rong's and Su Zhang's contemporary; though Ma won fame for breadth and Su for honesty, both bowed to Jiao as their better.
39
汝南吴苍甚重之，因遗书以观其志曰：
Wu Cang of Runan esteemed him and sent this letter to test his mind:
40
仲彦足下：勤处隐约，虽乘云行泥，栖宿不同，每有西风，何尝不叹！ 盖闻黄、老之言，乘虚入冥，藏身远遁，亦有理国养人，施于为政。 至如登山绝迹，神不著其证，人不睹其验。 吾欲先生从其可者，于意何如？ 昔伊尹不怀道以待尧、舜之君。 方今明明，四海开辟，巢、许无为箕山，夷、齐悔入首阳。 足下审能骑龙弄凤，翔嬉云间者，亦非狐兔燕雀所敢谋也。
"Zhongyan, you live hidden while others ride high—whenever the west wind blows I sigh for you. Huang-Lao speak of mounting void and hiding far away—yet their teaching can also order states and nurture the people. But mountaintop exile shows no spirit-sign; no man sees its proof. I urge you to take the workable path—what say you? Yi Yin did not clutch the Way waiting for a Yao or Shun. Today the sage shines and the seas are open—Chao and Xu need not idle on Ji Ridge; Bo and Yi would rue Shouyang. If you can ride dragons among the clouds, no fox or sparrow may counsel you.
41
慎不答。 年七十余，竟不肯娶。 后忽归家，自言死日，及期果卒。 后人有见慎于敦煌者，故前世异之，或云神仙焉。
Jiao never replied. Past seventy he still refused a wife. Once he went home, named his death-day, and died on the hour. Later witnesses placed him at Dunhuang—some called him a transcendent.
42
慎同郡马瑶，隐于汧山，以兔罝为事。 所居俗化，百姓美之，号马牧先生焉。
His townsman Ma Yao hid on Mount Qian and lived by snaring hares. His village mended its ways and dubbed him the Horse-Shepherd Master.
43
戴良字叔鸾，汝南慎阳人也。 曾祖父遵，字子高，平帝时，为侍御史。 王莽篡位，称病归乡里。 家富，好给施，尚侠气，食客常三四百人。 时人为之语曰：“关东大豪戴子高。”
Dai Liang, styled Shuluan, came from Shenyang in Runan. His great-grandfather Dai Zun, styled Zigao, served as palace attendant censor under Emperor Ping. Wang Mang's coup sent him home feigning sickness. His clan was rich, open-handed, and chivalrous—three or four hundred retainers sat at his gate. Wits rhymed, "East of the passes the great blade—Dai Zigao.
44
良少诞节，母憙驴鸣，良常学之，以娱乐焉。 及母卒，兄伯鸾居庐啜粥，非礼不行，良独食肉饮酒，哀至乃哭，而二人俱有毁容。 或问良曰：“子之居丧，礼乎？ ”良曰：“然。 礼所以制情佚也。 情苟不佚，何礼之论！ 夫食旨不甘，故致毁容之实。 若味不存口，食之可也。 ”论者不能夺之。
Young Dai Liang flouted small rules: his mother loved donkeys' bray, so he brayed to cheer her. At her death his brother Boluan took the hut and thin gruel; Dai ate meat and drank wine, wept only when sorrow struck—yet both wasted their faces with grief. Critics asked, "Is this mourning by the book? " Dai said, "Yes. Ritual only reins runaway feeling. When feeling never strays, what need of ritual talk! Fine food tastes ashes—that is how grief hollows the face. If your mouth knows no flavor, you may still eat. " None could answer him.
45
良才既高达，而论议尚奇，多骇流俗。 同郡谢季孝问曰：“子自视天下孰可为比？ ”良曰：“我若仲尼长东鲁，大禹出西羌，独步天下，谁与为偶！”
His genius was high, his talk outrageous—he shocked the crowd. His townsman Xie Jixiao asked, "Whom in the empire do you match? " Dai answered, "Were I Confucius in eastern Lu or Yu rising from the western Qiang, I would walk the world alone—who could pair with me!
46
举孝廉，不就。 再辟司空府，弥年不到，州郡迫之，乃遁辞诣府，悉将妻子，既行在道，因逃入江夏山中。 优游不仕，以寿终。
Nominated filial and incorrupt, he stayed home. Twice the Minister of Works called; he dodged a year, then pretended to comply, marched his family toward Luoyang, and bolted into the Jiangxia hills. He roamed free, never served, and died old.
47
初，良五女并贤，每有求姻，辄便许嫁，疏裳布被、竹笥木屐以遣之。 五女能遵其训，皆有隐者之风焉。
His five daughters were all virtuous; at every match he agreed at once, dowering them with homespun, bamboo boxes, and wooden clogs. Each daughter kept his teaching and bore a hermit's bearing.
48
法真字高卿，扶风眉阝人，南郡太守雄之子也。 好学而无常家，博通内外图典，为关西大儒。 弟子自远方至者，陈留范冉等数百人。 性恬静寡欲，不交人间事。 太守请见之，真乃幅巾诣谒。 太守曰：“昔鲁哀公虽为不肖，而仲尼称臣。 太守虚薄，欲以功曹相屈，光赞本朝，何如？ ”真曰：“以明府见待有礼，故敢自同宾末。 若欲吏之，真将在北山之北，南山之南矣。 ”太守戄然，不敢复言。
Fa Zhen, styled Gaoqing, was a native of Mei in Fufeng—the transmitted text garbles the county logograph—and son of Nan commandery prefect Fa Xiong. He studied everywhere, mastered inner and outer classics, and became the greatest teacher west of the pass. Hundreds of pupils—Fan Ran of Chenliu among them—trekked to his door. Calm and desireless, he shunned the world's traffic. The prefect asked an audience; Fa came in plain kerchief. The prefect said, "Duke Ai of Lu was no sage, yet Confucius called himself his minister. I am a shallow man—I would name you merit clerk to help the throne—will you? Fa answered, "You receive me with courtesy, so I may sit as a guest. Make me a clerk and you will find me north of North Mountain or south of South Mountain—gone. The prefect blanched and said no more.
49
辟公府，举贤良，皆不就。 同郡田弱荐真曰：“处士法真，体兼四业，学穷典奥，幽居恬泊，乐以忘忧。 将蹈老氏之高踪，不为玄纁屈也。 臣愿圣朝就加衮职，必能唱《清庙》之歌，致来仪之凤矣。 ”会顺帝西巡，弱又荐之。 帝虚心欲致，前后四征。 真曰：“吾既不能遁形远世，岂饮洗耳之水哉？ ”遂深自隐绝，终不降屈。 友人郭正称之曰：“法真名可得闻，身难得而见，逃名而名我随，避名而名我追，可谓百世之师者矣！ ”乃共刊石颂之，号曰玄德先生。 年八十九，中平五年，以寿终。
Summons from the high ministers and worthy nominations alike went unanswered. Tian Ruo wrote: "Fa Zhen unites the four callings, plumbs the classics, lives hidden in joy, and forgets sorrow. He will follow Laozi's high path and spurn imperial silk. Add him to the high ministers and he will lead the Clear Temple hymn and summon the phoenix of peace. " When Emperor Shun toured the west, Tian Ruo recommended him again. The emperor emptied his pride and summoned him four times. Fa said, "I cannot vanish like a ghost—shall I then mimic ear-washing hermits? " He buried himself deeper and never bowed. Guo Zheng said, "You hear Fa Zhen's name but never see the man—shun fame and it hunts you—he is a teacher for ages! " They carved a stone ode and named him Master Profound Virtue. He died at eighty-nine in Zhongping 5.
50
汉阴老父
The old man of Hanyin
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汉阴老父者，不知何许人也。 桓帝延熹中，幸竟陵，过云梦，临沔水，百姓莫不观者，有老父独耕不辍。 尚书郎南阳张温异之，使问曰：“人皆来观，老父独不辍，何也？ ”老父笑而不对。 温下道百步，自与言。 老父曰：“我野人耳，不达斯语。 请问天下乱而立天子邪？ 理而立天子邪？ 立天子以父天下邪？ 役天下以奉天子邪？ 昔圣王宰世，茅茨采椽，而万人以宁。 今子之君，劳人自纵，逸游无忌。 吾为子羞之，子何忍欲人观之乎！ ”温大惭。 问其姓名，不告而去。
No one knows the old man of Hanyin's home. Emperor Huan, touring Jingling and Yunmeng, halted on the Han—every soul crowded the bank save one greybeard who kept plowing. Secretary Zhang Wen of Nanyang sent to ask why he alone would not look up? The elder laughed and said nothing. Zhang left his carriage and walked a hundred paces to speak alone. The greybeard said, "I am a bumpkin—I do not grasp fine speech. Tell me—was the Son of Heaven raised because the world was in chaos? Or because it was well ordered? Was he made father to the realm? Was the realm yoked merely to pleasure the throne? Ancient sages ruled from thatch and bark—yet the people rested easy. Now your master exhausts the folk to indulge his tours without limit. I blush for you—how dare you ask them to gawk! Zhang burned with shame. He asked the elder's name; the man walked off in silence.
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陈留老父
The old man of Chenliu
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陈留老父者，不知何许人也。 桓帝世，党锢事起，守外黄令陈留张升去官归乡里，道逢友人，共班草而言。 升曰：“吾闻赵杀鸣犊，仲尼临河而反； 覆巢竭渊，龙凤逝而不至。 今宦竖日乱，陷害忠良，贤人君子其去朝乎？ 夫德之不建，人之无援，将性命之不免，奈何？ ”因相抱而泣。 老父趋而过之，植其杖，太息言曰：“吁！ 二大夫何泣之悲也？ 夫龙不隐鳞，凤不藏羽，网罗高县，去将安所？ 虽泣何及乎！ ”二人欲与之语，不顾而去，莫知所终。
The Chenliu elder's origins are lost. When the partisan proscriptions began, Waihuang magistrate Zhang Sheng resigned and met a friend on the road; they sat on bundled grass to talk. Zhang said, "When Zhao slew the bleating kid, Confucius turned back from the river; overturn the nest and drain the pool—dragons and phoenixes will not stay. Now eunuchs daily wreck the state and trap the good—must worthies flee the hall? If virtue fails and we lack allies, how shall we save our necks? " They clung together weeping. An old man strode by, planted his staff, and sighed, "Ah! Why do two ministers weep so hard? Dragons do not hide scales, phoenixes do not hide plumes—with nets set high, where will you flee? Tears come too late! " They called after him; he never turned, and none traced his path.
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庞公者，南郡襄阳人也。 居岘山之南，未尝入城府。 夫妻相敬如宾。 荆州刺史列表数延请，不能屈，乃就候之。 谓曰：“夫保全一身，孰若保全天下乎？ ”庞公笑曰：“鸿鹄巢于高林之上，暮而得所栖； 鼋鼍穴于深渊之下，夕而得所宿。 夫趣舍行止，亦人之巢穴也。 且各得其栖宿而已，天下非所保也。 ”因释耕于垄上，而妻子耘于前。 表指而问曰：“先生苦居畎亩而不肯官禄，后世何以遗子孙乎？ ”庞公曰：“世人皆遗之以危，今独遗之以安。 虽所遗不同，未为无所遗也。 ”表叹息而去。 后遂携其妻子登鹿门山，因采药不反。
Lord Pang lived in Xiangyang in Nan commandery. He farmed south of Mount Xian and never crossed the city wall. He and his wife honored each other like guests. Inspector Liu Biao summoned him in vain, then rode to his field. Liu said, "Saving yourself—how does it weigh against saving the realm? Pang laughed, "The goose nests in the tall wood and finds rest by dusk; the great turtle burrows in the deep and sleeps by night. A man's choices of stay or go are only nests and burrows. Each finds his own roost—the realm is not ours to save. " He dropped his plough on the ridge while his wife hoed in front of him. Liu pointed at the field: "You toil in mud and spurn salary—what legacy for your sons? " Pang answered, "The world leaves children danger; I leave them peace. The gifts differ—yet both are inheritances. " Liu sighed and rode away. Later he led wife and children up Mount Lumen gathering herbs and never came down.
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赞曰：江海冥灭，山林长往。 远性风疏，逸情云上。 道就虚全，事违尘枉。
Verdict: Rivers and seas swallow men; mountains and forests are the long road away. Their natures ran wide as wind; their hearts rode higher than cloud. The Way fills the void whole; the world they left was dust and bend.