Volume 13: Fan Yun; Shen Yue

梁書卷第十三列傳第七

Book of Liang, Volume 13, Biographies 7

范雲沈約

Fan Yun; Shen Yue

范雲字彥龍，南鄉舞陰人，晉平北將軍汪六世孫也。年八歲，遇宋豫州刺史殷琰於塗，琰異之，要就席，雲風姿應對，傍若無人。琰令賦詩，操筆便就，坐者歎焉。嘗就親人袁照學，晝夜不怠。照撫其背曰：「卿精神秀朗而勤於學，卿相才也。」少機警，有識具，善屬文，便尺牘，下筆輒成，未嘗定藁，時人每疑其宿構。父抗，爲郢府參軍，雲隨父在府，時吳興沈約、新野庾杲之與抗同府，見而友之。

Fan Yun, styled Yanlong, came from Wuyin in Nanxiang—a sixth-generation descendant of Jin's Pacifier of the North, Wang. At eight he met Yin Yan, Song's Yuzhou inspector, on the road; Yan was amazed and asked him to sit; Yun answered with easy grace, as though the crowd were empty. Yan asked him to write a poem; he took brush and finished on the spot, and all who sat there sighed in wonder. He studied under his kinsman Yuan Zhao, laboring day and night without rest. Zhao stroked his back and said, "Your spirit shines, and you study without rest—you are minister material." As a boy he was sharp and far-seeing, good at prose and at correspondence; his pen never paused for a draft, and contemporaries often thought he must have written the piece the night before. His father Kang served on the Ying staff; Yun went with him, and Shen Yue of Wu-xing and Yu Gao of Xinye, who shared Kang's office, met him and became his friends.

起家郢州西曹書佐，轉法曹行參軍。俄而沈攸之舉兵圍郢城，抗時爲府長流，入城固守，留家屬居外。雲爲軍人所得，攸之召與語，聲色甚厲，雲容貌不變，徐自陳說。攸之乃笑曰：「卿定可兒，且出就舍。」明旦，又召令送書入城。城內或欲誅之，雲曰：「老母弱弟，懸命沈氏，若違其命，禍必及親，今日就戮，甘心如薺。」長史柳世隆素與雲善，乃免之。

He began as Yingzhou western bureau secretary, then became acting legal-affairs staff officer. Soon Shen Youzhi rebelled and besieged Ying; Kang, as headquarters chief clerk, went into the city to defend it and left his family outside the walls. Yun was seized by Youzhi's soldiers; Youzhi called him in, harsh in voice and face, but Yun's expression never shifted as he pleaded his case at leisure. Youzhi laughed and said, "You are surely a boy who will amount to something. Go back to quarters for now." Next day he called him again and sent him into the city with a message. Men in the city wanted to kill him; Yun said, "Mother and brother depend on the Shen clan; defy him and kin will suffer—let me die today, and I am content." Chief clerk Liu Shilong, who had always been close to Yun, had him spared.

齊建元初，竟陵王子良爲會稽太守，雲始隨王，王未之知也。會游秦望，使人視刻石文，時莫能識，雲獨誦之，王悅，自是寵冠府朝。王爲丹陽尹，召爲主簿，深相親任。時進見齊高帝，值有獻白烏者，帝問此爲何瑞？雲位卑，最後答曰：「臣聞王者敬宗廟，則白烏至。」時謁廟始畢。帝曰：「卿言是也。感應之理，一至此乎！」轉補征北南郡王刑獄參軍事，領主簿如故，遷尚書殿中郎。子良爲司徒，又補記室參軍事，尋授通直散騎侍郎、領本州大中正。出爲零陵內史，在任潔己，省煩苛，去游費，百姓安之。明帝召還都，及至，拜散騎侍郎。復出爲始興內史。郡多豪猾大姓，二千石有不善者，謀共殺害，不則逐去之。邊帶蠻俚，尤多盜賊，前內史皆以兵刃自衛。雲入境，撫以恩德，罷亭候，商賈露宿，郡中稱爲神明。仍遷假節、建武將軍、平越中郎將、廣州刺史。初，雲與尚書僕射江祏善，祏姨弟徐藝爲曲江令，深以託雲。有譚儼者，縣之豪族，藝鞭之，儼以爲恥，詣京訴雲，雲坐徵還下獄，會赦免。永元二年，起爲國子博士。

At the start of Qi's Jianyuan reign the Prince of Jingling, Zi Liang, held Kuaiji; Yun joined his suite before the prince had noticed him. On a visit to Mount Qinwang the prince had the carved stone read; no one could decipher it until Yun recited it whole; the prince delighted in him, and thereafter Yun led the court of the prince's house. When the prince became metropolitan governor he made Yun chief clerk and trusted him deeply. On one audience with Qi Emperor Gao a white crow was offered; the emperor asked what sign it portended. Yun, last in rank because he stood low, answered: "I have heard that when a true king reveres his ancestral shrines, the white crow appears." The court had only just finished paying temple homage. The emperor said, "Your words are right. Can responsive principle run so deep!" He became supplemental criminal-affairs officer to the southern commandery prince of the northern campaign, still chief clerk, then rose to secretariat palace bureau director. When Zi Liang became minister of education Yun was record-keeper on his staff, then regular scattered-cavalry attendant and head of the provincial grand coordinator's office. He went out as Lingling interior magistrate, lived plainly, stripped away petty regulations and travel costs, and the district rested easy under him. Emperor Ming called him back to court; on arrival he was made regular scattered-cavalry attendant. He went out again as Shixing interior magistrate. The prefecture teemed with great houses; when a two-thousand-bushel magistrate failed them, they plotted murder, or else expulsion. The border swarmed with tribal peoples and thieves; every prior magistrate had marched with weapons. Yun entered and ruled with grace, lifted the guard posts, and traders camped in the open road; the district hailed him as divine. Soon he held acting credentials, was General Who Establishes Martial Glory, colonel pacifying the Yue, and Guangzhou inspector. Yun had been friendly with vice director Jiang You; You's maternal cousin Xu Yi was Qujiang magistrate, and Jiang pressed Yun to watch over him. Tan Yan, a county magnate, was beaten by Yi; shamed, he went to the capital to denounce Yun, who was recalled, jailed, and released by general pardon. In Yongyuan year two he was made national university erudite.

初，雲與高祖遇於齊竟陵王子良邸，又嘗接里閈，高祖深器之。及義兵至京邑，雲時在城內。東昏旣誅，侍中張稷使雲銜命出城，高祖因留之，便參帷幄，仍拜黃門侍郎，與沈約同心翊贊。俄遷大司馬諮議參軍、領錄事。梁臺建，遷侍中。時高祖納齊東昏余妃，頗妨政事，雲嘗以爲言，未之納也。後與王茂同入臥內，雲又諫曰：「昔漢祖居山東，貪財好色，及入關定秦，財帛無所取，婦女無所幸，范增以爲其志大故也。今明公始定天下，海內想望風聲，奈何襲昏亂之蹤，以女德爲累。」王茂因起拜曰：「范雲言是，公必以天下爲念，無宜留惜。」高祖默然。雲便疏令以余氏賚茂，高祖賢其意而許之。明日，賜雲、茂錢各百萬。

Long before, Yun had met Gaozu at Prince of Jingling Zi Liang's mansion and had lived near him; Gaozu held him in high regard. When the righteous army came to the capital Yun was still within the city. Dong Hun fell; Zhang Ji sent Yun out of the city with orders; Gaozu detained him for his war council, made him yellow gate attendant, and he and Shen Yue joined in loyal support. Soon he was grand marshal advisory staff officer in charge of registry. When the Liang court was set up he became attendant within. Gaozu had taken Dong Hun's former consort, and it tangled government; Yun spoke against it repeatedly, without success. Later he went into the inner quarters with Wang Mao and urged again: "Han's founding ancestor, east of the mountains, loved gold and women; once he entered the passes and settled Qin he touched no treasure and kept no woman—Fan Zeng read that as greatness of purpose. Now you have only just won the realm; the world watches your bearing—why repeat the tracks of a ruined court and let a woman's grace become your burden?" Wang Mao stood and bowed: "Fan Yun is right; the lord must think of the realm and must not cling to private feeling." Gaozu said nothing. Yun promptly memorialized to grant the former consort to Mao; Gaozu praised his purpose and assented. Next day he gave Yun and Mao each a hundred thousand in cash.

天監元年，高祖受禪，柴燎於南郊，雲以侍中參乘。禮畢，高祖升輦，謂雲曰：「朕之今日，所謂懍乎若朽索之馭六馬。」雲對曰：「亦願陛下日慎一日。」高祖善之。是日，遷散騎常侍、吏部尚書；以佐命功封霄城縣侯，邑千戶。雲以舊恩見拔，超居佐命，盡誠翊亮，知無不爲。高祖亦推心任之，所奏多允。嘗侍宴，高祖謂臨川王宏、鄱陽王恢曰：「我與范尚書少親善，申四海之敬；今爲天下主，此禮旣革，汝宜代我呼范爲兄。」二王下席拜，與雲同車還尚書下省，時人榮之。其年，東宮建，雲以本官領太子中庶子，尋遷尚書右僕射，猶領吏部。頃之，坐違詔用人，免吏部，猶爲僕射。

In Tianjian year one Gaozu took the throne; at the southern suburb fire rite Yun rode as attendant within in the secondary carriage. When the ceremony ended Gaozu mounted the imperial carriage and told Yun, "Today I am like a man driving six horses on rotted reins." Yun answered, "I only wish Your Majesty would grow more careful with each passing day." Gaozu approved his words. That day he became regular scattered-cavalry attendant and minister of personnel; for founding merit he was made marquis of Xiaocheng with one thousand households. Lifted by old favor above his peers in the founding enterprise, Yun served with full loyalty and never held back. Gaozu in turn trusted him completely; most of what he submitted was granted. At one feast Gaozu told Princes Hong of Linchuan and Hui of Poyang: "Minister Fan and I were intimate in youth—we honored one another as the realm demands; now I am sovereign and that rite is gone—you should call Fan elder brother for me." Both princes rose, bowed, and rode back with Yun to the personnel ministry—contemporaries called it honor. That year the heir apparent was installed; Yun kept his post and became crown prince senior mentor, then vice director of the masters of writing while still heading personnel. Soon, for appointing men against imperial order, he lost personnel but kept the vice directorship.

雲性篤睦，事寡嫂盡禮，家事必先諮而後行。好節尚奇，專趣人之急。少時與領軍長史王畡善，畡亡於官舍，貧無居宅，雲乃迎喪還家。躬營含殯。事竟陵王子良恩禮甚隆，雲每獻損益，未嘗阿意。子良嘗啓齊武帝論雲爲郡。帝曰：「庸人，聞其恒相賣弄，不復窮法，當宥之以遠。」子良曰：「不然。雲動相規誨，諫書具存，請取以奏。」旣至，有百餘紙，辭皆切直。帝歎息，因謂子良曰：「不謂雲能爾。方使弼汝，何宜出守。」齊文惠太子嘗出東田觀獲，顧謂衆賓曰：「刈此亦殊可觀。」衆皆唯唯。雲獨曰：「夫三時之務，實爲長勤。伏願殿下知稼穡之艱難，無徇一朝之宴逸。」旣出，侍中蕭緬先不相識，因就車握雲手曰：「不圖今日復聞讜言。」及居選官，任守隆重，書牘盈案，賓客滿門，雲應對如流，無所壅滯，官曹文墨，發擿若神，時人咸服其明贍。性頗激厲，少威重，有所是非，形於造次，士或以此少之。初，雲爲郡號稱廉潔，及居貴重，頗通饋餉；然家無蓄積，隨散之親友。

By nature he was dutiful and affectionate; he observed every courtesy toward his widowed sister-in-law and never acted at home until he had asked her. He cherished integrity and the extraordinary and threw himself into others' crises. As a young man he was close to leading-army chief clerk Wang Kai; Kai died in his government quarters, destitute, without a house, and Yun brought the bier home. He oversaw the burial rites himself. He owed the Prince of Jingling, Zi Liang, deep courtesy; every memorial of profit and loss he sent was free of flattery. Zi Liang once wrote Qi Emperor Wu recommending Yun for a prefecture. The emperor said, "A commonplace fellow—I hear he and the prince forever play to the gallery; no need to pursue the law—send him far off and be done." Zi Liang said, "Not so. Yun always advises and remonstrates; the letters remain—let them be submitted." They came to more than a hundred pages, each line blunt and true. The emperor sighed and told Zi Liang, "I never thought Yun could be such a man. Let him aid you at court—why make him go defend a district?" Qi's Wenhuai crown prince once went to the eastern estate to watch reaping and told the guests, "This cutting is worth seeing too." Everyone murmured assent. Yun alone said, "The work of the three seasons is real, lasting labor. I beg Your Highness to know how hard grain is won, and not chase one morning's pleasure." Afterward attendant within Xiao Mian, a stranger to him before, grasped his hand at the carriage and said, "I never thought to hear honest counsel again today." In charge of appointments his posts were heavy; papers overflowed his desk and guests crowded his door, yet he answered without delay; he sifted official documents with uncanny speed, and all who saw it marveled at his brilliance. He was quick-tempered and light on ceremony; right and wrong showed on his face in the moment, and some gentlemen held that against him. As magistrate he had been famed for clean hands; in high office he accepted presents more freely; yet he kept nothing in the house and scattered it all among kin and friends.

二年，卒，時年五十三。高祖爲之流涕，卽日輿駕臨殯。詔曰：「追遠興悼，常情所篤；況問望斯在，事深朝寄者乎！故散騎常侍、尚書右僕射、霄城侯雲，器範貞正，思懷經遠，爰初立志，素履有聞。脫巾來仕，清績仍著。燮務登朝，具瞻惟允。綢繆翊贊，義簡朕心，雖勤非負靮，而舊同論講。方騁遠塗，永毗庶政；奄致喪殞，傷悼於懷。宜加命秩，式備徽典。可追贈侍中、衛將軍，僕射、侯如故。並給鼓吹一部。」禮官請諡曰宣，勑賜諡文。有集三十卷。子孝才嗣，官至太子中舍人。

In year two he died at fifty-three. Gaozu wept and went himself that very day to the mourning hall. The edict read, "To honor the departed and mourn is what feeling demands; how much more when renown still lives and the throne leaned on the man! The late regular scattered-cavalry attendant, vice director of the masters of writing, Marquis of Xiaocheng Yun—upright in talent and bearing, far-reaching in mind; from his first vow his walk was known. He doffed the scholar's scarf for office, and his clear record endured. He balanced court affairs, and every eye trusted him. He wove close support; his loyalty was plain to me—though his labor did not show in the traces of the chariot shaft, we were long friends in counsel. He was to run the long course and forever aid the realm; suddenly he fell, and grief cuts my breast. Let rank and rites be raised to fulfill the great canon. Posthumously make him attendant within and defender general, vice director and marquis unchanged. Grant one suite of drums and pipes as well." The ritualists proposed posthumous name Xuan; an edict gave Wen. His collected works ran to thirty scrolls. His son Xiaocai succeeded and reached crown prince household aide.

沈約，字休文，吳興武康人也。祖林子，宋征虜將軍。父璞，淮南太守。璞元嘉末被誅，約幼潛竄，會赦免。旣而流寓孤貧，篤志好學，晝夜不倦。母恐其以勞生疾，常遣減油滅火。而晝之所讀，夜輒誦之，遂博通羣籍，能屬文。

Shen Yue, styled Xiucai, came from Wukang in Wu-xing. His grandfather Linzi had been Song's general who subdues the barbarians. His father Pu held Huainan as administrator. At Yuanjia's end Pu was put to death; young Yue hid in the shadows until an amnesty let him live. He wandered rootless and penniless, fierce in his love of books, never resting from dawn to dark. His mother dreaded that zeal would break his health and kept sending orders to trim the wick and quench the lamp. By day he read, by night he chanted it back until the canon lay open in his mind and his own writing came at will.

起家奉朝請。濟陽蔡興宗聞其才而善之；興宗爲郢州刺史，引爲安西外兵參軍，兼記室。興宗嘗謂其諸子曰：「沈記室人倫師表，宜善事之。」及爲荊州，又爲征西記室參軍，帶厥西令。興宗卒，始爲安西晉安王法曹參軍，轉外兵，並兼記室。入爲尚書度支郎。

He entered service as a palace attendant. Cai Xingzong of Jiyang heard his gift and took to him; when Xingzong took Yingzhou he made him outside-army staff officer to Anxi and recorder as well. Xingzong once told his sons, "Shen the recorder is a teacher among men—serve him well. When he went to Jingzhou he became western campaign recorder and magistrate of Juesi in the same breath. After Xingzong's death he was legal staff to the Prince of Jin'an, then outside army, always doubling as recorder. He came to court as revenue attendant in the Masters of Writing.

齊初爲征虜記室，帶襄陽令，所奉之王，齊文惠太子也。太子入居東宮，爲步兵校尉，管書記，直永壽省，校四部圖書。時東宮多士，約特被親遇，每直入見，影斜方出。當時王侯到宮，或不得進，約每以爲言。太子曰：「吾生平懶起，是卿所悉，得卿談論，然後忘寢。卿欲我夙興，可恒早入。」遷太子家令，後以本官兼著作郎，遷中書郎，本邑中正，司徒右長史，黃門侍郎。時竟陵王亦招士，約與蘭陵蕭琛、琅邪王融、陳郡謝朓、南鄉范雲、樂安任昉等皆遊焉，當世號爲得人。俄兼尚書左丞，尋爲御史中丞，轉車騎長史。隆昌元年，除吏部郎，出爲寧朔將軍、東陽太守。明帝卽位，進號輔國將軍，徵爲五兵尚書，遷國子祭酒。明帝崩，政歸塚宰，尚書令徐孝嗣使約撰定遺詔。遷左衛將軍，尋加通直散騎常侍。永元二年，以母老表求解職，改授冠軍將軍、司徒左長史，征虜將軍、南清河太守。

At Qi's opening he was campaign recorder with Xiangyang on his belt—the prince was Crown Prince Wenhuì. The heir moved east; he became infantry colonel, keeper of papers, stationed at Yongshou, collating the four library divisions. The eastern palace teemed with talent, yet Yue alone was drawn close—he walked straight in and left only when the sun hung low. Sometimes even kings and marquises were turned away at the gate, and Yue always pleaded their case. The heir said, "You know how late I like to wake; only your talk makes me forget the bed. If you want me at dawn, come early every day. He rose to eastern-palace household head, then added compilation gentleman, secretariat gentleman, native impartial judge, right chief of staff to the minister of works, and yellow-gate companion. The Prince of Jingling too kept a salon; Yue moved with Xiao Chen, Wang Rong, Xie Tiao, Fan Yun, Ren Fang, and the rest—men of the age called them the company worth having. Soon he doubled as left assistant in the Masters of Writing, then censor-in-chief, then chief clerk to the cavalry general. In the first Longchang year he took the personnel post, then left as pacify-the-north general and administrator of Dongyang. Ming's accession brought him the title assist-the-state; he was called to armaments minister, then made chancellor of the imperial academy. When Ming died the regent held the reins; Xu Xiaosi ordered Yue to fix the final edict. He became left guard general, soon with unimpeded transmission regular attendant added. In Yongyuan year 2 he begged off for his mother's sake and was shifted to champion general, left chief of staff, campaign general, and administrator of Southern Qinghe.

高祖在西邸，與約遊舊，建康城平，引爲驃騎司馬，將軍如故。時高祖勳業旣就，天人允屬，約嘗扣其端，高祖默而不應。佗日又進曰：「今與古異，不可以淳風期萬物。士大夫攀龍附鳳者，皆望有尺寸之功，以保其福祿。今童兒牧豎，悉知齊祚已終，莫不云明公其人也。天文人事，表革運之徵，永元以來，尤爲彰著。讖云『行中水，作天子』，此又歷然在記。天心不可違，人情不可失，苟是曆數所至，雖欲謙光，亦不可得已。」高祖曰：「吾方思之。」對曰：「公初杖兵樊、沔，此時應思，今王業已就，何所復思。昔武王伐紂，始入，民便曰吾君，武王不違民意，亦無所思。公自至京邑，已移氣序，比于周武，遲速不同。若不早定大業，稽天人之望，脫有一人立異，便損威德。且人非金石，時事難保。豈可以建安之封，遺之子孫？若天子還都，公卿在位，則君臣分定，無復異心。君明於上，臣忠於下，豈復有人方更同公作賊。」高祖然之。約出，高祖召范雲告之，雲對略同約旨。高祖曰：「智者乃爾暗同，卿明早將休文更來。」雲出語約，約曰：「卿必待我。」雲許諾，而約先期入，高祖命草其事。約乃出懷中詔書並諸選置，高祖初無所改。俄而雲自外來，至殿門不得入，徘徊壽光閣外，但云「咄咄」。約出，問曰：「何以見處？」約舉手向左，雲笑曰：「不乖所望。」有頃，高祖召范雲謂曰：「生平與沈休文羣居，不覺有異人處；今日才智縱橫，可謂明識。」雲曰：「公今知約，不異約今知公。」高祖曰：「我起兵於今三年矣，功臣諸將，實有其勞，然成帝業者，乃卿二人也。」

Gaozu at the western residence knew Yue of old; when Jiankang settled he made him grand-marshal staff officer at the same rank. Merit was won and heaven and men agreed; Yue once tested the edge of the question and Gaozu answered with silence. On another day he pressed on: "This age is not the old days—you cannot bind every heart with rustic virtue alone. Every gentleman who rides the dragon's scales wants a scrap of merit to keep his house safe. Even children at pasture know Qi's mandate is spent and say in one voice that you are the man. Heaven's signs and men's tongues mark the turn of fate—since Yongyuan the proof has glared. A prophecy runs, "walk midstream and become Son of Heaven"—and the chronicles set it plain. Heaven's will cannot be turned aside, nor can men's hearts be left hanging--when the count of ages has come, modesty cannot hold it back. Gaozu said, "I am still thinking. Yue answered, "When you first raised arms at Fan and Mian—that was the hour to think. The royal work stands—what is left to think? When King Wu struck Zhou and entered, the people cried "our lord" at once—Wu did not fight the tide and had no second thoughts. From the day you reached the capital the qi of the age has turned—your pace is not King Wu's pace. Delay the great settlement and keep heaven and men on the rack—let one man stand apart and your awe is already cut. Flesh is not bronze or stone, and the moment is hard to keep. Will you hand your sons only a Jian'an marquisate? Once the Son of Heaven is back and the great ministers sit in their ranks, lord and servant are set and no heart will wander. A bright lord above, loyal men below—who would rise with you as a rebel again? Gaozu assented. Yue withdrew; Gaozu summoned Fan Yun and told him—Yun's reply tracked Yue's meaning. Gaozu said, "Wise men hide the same thought in the dark—bring Xiuwen early tomorrow. Yun went out and spoke to Yue; Yue said, "You must wait for me. Yun promised, yet Yue went in ahead; Gaozu told him to draft the business. Yue drew from his breast the edict and every appointment; Gaozu altered not a line. Soon Yun arrived from outside, stopped at the hall gate, and paced Shouguang Pavilion crying, "Tsk, tsk!" Yue came out; Yun asked, "How were you placed?" Yue raised his hand toward the left; Yun laughed, "No betrayal of what I hoped." Before long Gaozu called Yun and said, "I lived beside Shen Xiuwen and never felt a strangeness in him; today his talent runs in every direction—this is true discernment." Yun said, "You know Yue now—as Yue already knew you." Gaozu said, "Three years since I took up arms—the captains have their merit, yet the throne was finished by you two alone."

梁臺建，爲散騎常侍、吏部尚書，兼右僕射。高祖受禪，爲尚書僕射，封建昌縣侯，邑千戶，常侍如故。又拜約母謝爲建昌國太夫人。奉策之日，右僕射范雲等二十餘人咸來致拜，朝野以爲榮。俄遷尚書左僕射，常侍如故。尋兼領軍，加侍中。天監二年，遭母憂，輿駕親出臨弔，以約年衰，不宜致毀，遣中書舍人斷客節哭。起爲鎮軍將軍、丹陽尹，置佐史。服闋，遷侍中、右光祿大夫，領太子詹事，揚州大中正，關尚書八條事，遷尚書令，侍中、詹事、中正如故。累表陳讓，改授尚書左僕射、領中書令、前將軍，置佐史，侍中如故。尋遷尚書令，領太子少傅。九年，轉左光祿大夫，侍中、少傅如故，給鼓吹一部。

When the Liang terrace rose he was scattered-cavalry regular attendant, personnel minister, and right vice minister together. At Gaozu's accession he was vice minister of the Masters of Writing, marquis of Jianchang with a thousand households, attendant unchanged. Yue's mother, Lady Xie, was made grand lady of Jianchang state. On the day the patent was received, Fan Yun the vice minister and twenty-odd others all came to bow—court and market called it glory. Soon he was left vice minister, attendant as before. Soon he commanded the guards in addition and gained palace attendant. In Tianjian year 2 he mourned his mother; the emperor came out in person to condole, judged Yue too old for ruinous grief, and sent a secretariat aide to cut off guests and set bounds to the wailing. He left mourning as suppressing-army general and intendant of Danyang, with a full staff appointed. When the mourning ended he was palace attendant, right grandee, eastern-palace tutor, Yangzhou chief impartial judge, charged with eight secretariat matters, then minister of the Masters of Writing—attendant, tutor, and judge unchanged. He memorialized again and again to yield; they made him left vice minister with secretariat director, front general, staff, and attendant as before. Soon he was minister of the Masters of Writing and junior tutor to the heir together. In year 9 he became left grandee, attendant and junior tutor unchanged, with one set of martial pipes.

初，約久處端揆，有志台司，論者咸謂爲宜，而帝終不用，乃求外出，又不見許。與徐勉素善，遂以書陳情於勉曰：「吾弱年孤苦，傍無朞屬，往者將墜於地，契闊屯邅，困於朝夕，崎嶇薄宦，事非爲己，望得小祿，傍此東歸。歲逾十稔，方忝襄陽縣，公私情計，非所了具，以身資物，不得不任人事。永明末，出守東陽，意在止足；而建武肇運，人世膠加，一去不返，行之未易。及昏猜之始，王政多門，因此謀退，庶幾可果，託卿布懷於徐令，想記未忘。聖道聿興，謬逢嘉運，往志宿心，復成乖爽。今歲開元，禮年云至，懸車之請，事由恩奪。誠不能弘宣風政，光闡朝猷，尚欲討尋文簿，時議同異。而開年以來，病增慮切，當由生靈有限，勞役過差，總此凋竭，歸之暮年，牽策行止，努力祗事。外觀傍覽，尚似全人，而形骸力用，不相綜攝，常須過自束持，方可僶勉。解衣一臥，支體不復相關。上熱下冷，月增日篤，取暖則煩，加寒必利，後差不及前差，後劇必甚前劇。百日數旬，革帶常應移孔；以手握臂，率計月小半分。以此推算，豈能支久？若此不休，日復一日，將貽聖主不追之恨。冒欲表聞，乞歸老之秩。若天假其年，還是平健，才力所堪，惟思是策。」勉爲言於高祖，請三司之儀，弗許，但加鼓吹而已。

He had long stood at the summit and coveted the highest seat; men said it was fitting, yet the emperor never gave it—he asked to go out and was not allowed. He was old friends with Xu Mian and wrote to open his heart: "In tender years I was orphaned, with no kin at hand; I nearly fell to the ground—years of want and danger, squeezed morning and night, climbing petty posts I did not want, only to win a small salary and live out my days near home in the east. More than ten years passed before I barely held Xiangyang county; public and private ledgers I could not square, and my body was the pledge—I could not refuse the world's business. At Yongming's end I went out to Dongyang, my heart already on stopping; then Jianwu opened a new reign and the world clung tighter—one step out does not come back, and the road is not easy. When the throne turned dim and many hands held the reins, I schemed to withdraw, hoping it might succeed—I asked you to carry my wish to Supervisor Xu, trusting you had not forgotten. When the holy way rose I stumbled into a bright season, and the will I nursed for years turned false again. This Kaiyuan year the ritual clock says my turn—the plea to hang up the chariot is denied by grace. I truly cannot widen the wind of government or light the court's counsel; I still mean to comb the archives and weigh what men say. Yet since the year turned, sickness and dread have grown—perhaps life has a measure and labor passed it—this wasting gathers on my old bones, and I whip my steps to barely serve. From outside I still seem a whole man, yet body and force no longer answer each other; I must brace myself every hour to scrape through. Strip off my robe and lie down—my limbs no longer heed one another. Heat above, cold below, worse with every moon—warmth vexes me, cold steadies me, each spell weaker than the last, each turn sharper than the one before. In spans of days and decades the belt must shift a notch; close my hand on my arm—each month a little less by half a measure. Count it so—how can I last? If this does not end, day on day, it will leave our sage lord a regret that cannot be soothed. I dare memorialize and beg the rank of withdrawal in old age. If Heaven grants years and I return to sound health, whatever strength remains—that alone is the plan I keep." Mian spoke for him to Gaozu and asked the rites of the three offices—refused; only the pipes were added.

約性不飲酒，少嗜欲，雖時遇隆重，而居處儉素。立宅東田，矚望郊阜。嘗爲《郊居賦》，其辭曰：

Yue did not drink by nature and wanted little; though rank piled on him, his house stayed plain. He built a house in the eastern fields and looked out over the suburban slopes. Once he wrote the "Fu of Suburban Living"; it begins:

惟至人之非己，固物我而兼忘。自中智以下洎，咸得性以爲場。獸因窟而獲騁，鳥先巢而後翔。陳巷窮而業泰，嬰居湫而德昌。僑棲仁於東里，鳳晦跡於西堂。伊吾人之褊志，無經世之大方。思依林而羽戢，願託水而鱗藏。固無情於輪奐，非有欲於康莊。披東郊之寥廓，入蓬藋之荒茫。旣從豎而橫構，亦風除而雨攘。

The perfected man forgets himself and holds self and world in one forgetting. Below middling wit, every creature takes its nature for its pasture. Beasts stretch their legs because they have burrows; birds build the nest, then take the sky. Chen lived in a dead-end lane yet his house rose; Ying kept a mean roof yet his virtue widened. Qiao planted benevolence in the eastern lane; the phoenix veiled its steps in the western hall. My will is small; I own no grand design for the world. I would fold my wings to the forest and hide my scales in the stream. I do not hunger for carved rafters, nor thirst for the king's highway. I push into the eastern outskirts' emptiness and walk the waste of reed and rush. It had been built out and across; wind cleared it and rain tore it down.

昔西漢之標季，余播遷之雲始。違利建於海昏，創惟桑于江汜。同河濟之重世，逾班生之十紀。或辭祿而反耕，或彈冠而來仕。逮有晉之隆安，集艱虞于天步。世交爭而波流，民失時而狼顧。延亂麻于井邑，曝如莽于衢路。大地曠而靡容，旻天遠而誰訴。伊皇祖之弱辰，逢時艱之孔棘。違危邦而窘驚，訪安土而移卽。肇胥宇於朱方，掩閒庭而晏息。值龍顏之鬱起，乃憑風而矯翼。指皇邑而南轅，駕脩衢以騁力。遷華扉而來啓，張高衡而徙植。傍逸陌之脩平，面淮流之清直。芳塵浸而悠遠，世道忽其窊隆。綿四代於茲日，盈百祀於微躬。嗟弊廬之難保，若霣籜之從風。或誅茅而剪棘，或旣西而復東。乍容身於白社，亦寄孥於伯通。

In the twilight of Western Han, my exile began at the clouded dawn. We forsook Haihun's prosperous seat and set mulberry on the river's edge. We shared the Yellow and Ji country's long ages and outlived Ban's ten generations. Some turned down rank and went back to the fields; some shook off dust and entered service. Then Jin's Long'an gathered trial and trouble into the march of days. Generations fought in rolling surf; men lost their hour and looked over their shoulders like wolves. Disorder's tangle covered market and lane; waste like rank weeds burned on every road. The wide land had no place left for a body; the high heaven was remote—who could I call? In the soft years of my royal forebear, the times' trouble came close as a barb. He fled a realm in danger, sought a gentler country, and went to make his home. He first took roof at Zhufang, shut the still court, and slept untroubled. When the dragon face lifted in glory, he rode the wind and straightened his wings. He turned the yoke toward the royal capital and went south; he took the great road and put his strength to use. He shifted the bright doors and came to set them wide; he lifted the tall ridgepole and set it anew. By the level paths of the outer lanes, before the Huai's clear, straight flow. Perfumed dust steeped the distance; the age's road pitched up and down. Four generations run to this morning; a hundred rites weigh on my slight life. Ah—the broken lodge that will not stand, like split bamboo driven by the gale. Some mended the roof and cleared the thorns; some went west, then came back east. Now hiding in the White Shrine, now lodging kin with Bo Tong.

迹平生之耿介，實有心於獨往。思幽人而軫念，望東臯而長想。本忘情於徇物，徒羈絏於天壤。應屢歎於牽絲，陸興言於世網。事滔滔而未合，志悁悁而無爽。路將殫而彌峭，情薄暮而踰廣。抱寸心其如蘭，何斯願之浩蕩。詠歸歟而躑跼，眷岩阿而抵掌。

The track of my days was straight and hard; I meant to keep a heart that went alone. I mourned the man apart from the world and turned my eyes to the eastern terrace in longing. I was born to forget the world's goods, yet only wound in heaven's dust. Ying Pu-ke groaned at every tug of thread; Lu Ji named the net the age weaves. Business poured on without rest; my heart was tight but never bent. The path was nearly spent and grew sharper; at evening my longing widened. I carried a span of heart sweet as orchid—how wide this wish runs! I sang of going home yet could not move; I turned to the cliff and struck my palms.

逢時君之喪德，何凶昏之孔熾。乃戰牧所未陳，實升陑所不記。彼黎元之喋喋，將垂獸而爲餌。瞻穹昊而無歸，雖非牢而被胾。始歎絲而未睹，終逌組而後值。尋貽愛乎上天，固非民其莫甚。授冥符於井翼，實靈命之所稟。當降監之初辰，值積惡之云稔。寧方割於下墊，廓重氛於上墋。躬靡暇於朝食，常求衣於夜枕。旣牢籠于媯、夏，又驅馳乎軒、頊。德無遠而不被，明無微而不燭。鼓玄澤於大荒，播仁風於遐俗。辟終古而遐念，信王猷其如玉。

I met a ruler without virtue; how thick the evil night burned! No battle at Muye was ever fought like this; no deed at Mount Sheng was ever written in the books. The people murmured—they would soon be meat hung out for beasts. They stared at the round heaven and had nowhere to turn; though not yet in the stall, they were already flesh on the board. First I grieved at the snarl and saw no end; at last I met the chief minister who cut the threads. Heaven's kindness reached down—surely no folk had suffered more. The hidden token came at the Well and Wings—truly the bright charge was taken. When heaven first bent its gaze, long-stored wrong ripened like thundercloud. Though the lower land was cut into parts, the thick haze was swept from the high dome. He had no time even to eat at dawn; he often looked for his robe on the night pillow. He had already bound the lines of Yao and Xia; again he drove the reigns of Xuan and Zhuan. His virtue went where no land was far; his light left no corner unlit. He drummed the deep fen across the wild; he scattered humane wind through far-off custom. He looked back through deepest time—truly the king's design was jade.

值銜《圖》之盛世，遇興聖之嘉期。謝中涓於初日，叨光佐於此時。闕投石之猛志，無飛矢之麗辭。排陽鳥而命邑，方河山而啓基。翼儲光於三善，長王職於百司。兢鄙夫之易失，懼寵祿之難持。伊前世之貴仕，罕紆情於丘窟。譬叢華於楚、趙，每驕奢以相越。築甲館於銅駝，並高門於北闕。辟重扃于華閫，豈蓬蒿所能沒。敖傳嗣於墝壤，何安身於窮地。味先哲而爲言，固余心之所嗜。不慕權於城市，豈邀名於屠肆。詠希微以考室，幸風霜之可庇。

He came to a time when the River Chart was in hand; he met the hour when a holy rise was praised. I quit the inner attendant on the first day and took the bright post of a helping minister in this season. I had no heart to cast the stone; I had no shining speech of the flying arrow. I drove away the sun-bird and was given a town; I set the mountains and rivers in order and laid the base. I helped the stored light of the three virtues and long kept royal work among the hundred bureaus. I feared how quickly the common man loses his hold; I dreaded how hard rank and pay are to keep. In old days the great ministers—how seldom they bowed their hearts to hill and hollow! Like flowers massed in Chu and Zhao, each outdid the last in pride and waste. They raised armored lodges at the Bronze Camel; they piled tall gates at the northern watch. Great doors opened on the flowered ward—how could mere mugwort cover them? Proud Ao's heirs lived on broken soil—how could a man find rest in a narrow land? I make the old wise men's sayings my tongue—only what my heart loves pleases me. I do not crave power in the market streets; I do not hunt name in the butcher's row. I sing the hidden and fine to build my room; luck that wind and frost can roof me.

爾乃傍窮野，抵荒郊；編霜菼，葺寒茅。構棲噪之所集，築町疃之所交。因犯簷而刊樹，由妨基而剪巢。決渟洿之汀濙，塞井甃之淪坳。藝芳枳於北渠，樹脩楊於南浦。遷甕牖於蘭室，同肩牆於華堵。織宿楚以成門，籍外扉而爲戶。旣取陰於庭樾，又因籬于芳杜。開閣室以遠臨，辟高軒而旁睹。漸沼沚於霤垂，周塍陌於堂下。其水草則蘋萍芡芰，菁藻蒹菰；石衣海髮，黃荇綠蒲。動紅荷於輕浪，覆碧葉於澄湖。飡嘉實而卻老，振羽服於清都。其陸卉則紫鼈綠葹，天著山韭；雁齒麋舌，牛脣彘首。布濩南池之陽，爛漫北樓之後。或幕渚而芘地，或縈窗而窺牖。若乃園宅殊制，田圃異區。李衡則橘林千樹，石崇則雜果萬株。並豪情之所侈，非儉志之所娛。欲令紛披蓊鬱，吐綠攢朱；羅窗映戶，接溜承隅。開丹房以四照，舒翠葉而九衢。抽紅英於紫帶，銜素蕊於青跗。其林鳥則翻泊頡頏，遺音下上；楚雀多名，流嚶雜響。或班尾而綺翼，或綠衿而絳顙。好葉隱而枝藏，乍間關而來往。其水禽則大鴻小雁，天狗澤虞；秋鷖寒＜勑鳥＞，修鷁短鳧。曳參差之弱藻，戲瀺灂之輕軀；翅抨流而起沫，翼鼓浪而成珠。其魚則赤鯉青魴，纖倏鉅鱯。碧鱗朱尾，脩顱偃額。小則戲渚成文，大則噴流揚白。不興羨於江海，聊相忘於余宅。其竹則東南獨秀，九府擅奇。不遷植於淇水，豈分根於樂池。秋蜩吟葉，寒雀噪枝。來風南軒之下，負雪北堂之垂。訪往塗之軫跡，觀先識之情偽。每誅空而索有，皆指難以爲易。不自已而求足，並尤物以興累。亦昔士之所迷，而今余之所避也。

So I came by the empty wild, to the bare edge of the suburbs; I wove frost-reed and mended the winter roof. I made a roost where noise would settle, traced plots where field tracks crossed. Where the eaves were blocked, I felled trees; where the footings would fail, I cleared nests. I cut the still pond's shallow rim; I filled the well curb's fallen dip. I set sweet orange on the north ditch, tall poplar on the south bank. I brought the clay window into the orchid chamber; the shared wall stood like a bright fortress. I bound last night's rushes into a gate, took outer boards for doors. I took shade from the court trees, and leaned on a hedge of sweet elm. I opened the inner room to look far off; I widened the high hall to see aside. The marsh edge crept under the dripping eaves; field paths circled the hall below. For water growth—duckweed, shield-plant, gorgon, lotus, duckweed, reed, rush; stone moss, sea hair, yellow pondweed, green cattail. Red lotus moved on soft waves; green leaf roofed the clear mere. We ate good fruit to turn back age; we shook feather coats in the clean court. For land herbs—purple turtle, green sprout, sky thistle, mountain chive; goose tooth, elk tongue, ox lip, pig head. They spread on the south pool's bright side, ran wild behind the north lodge. Some roofed the islet and covered the earth; some laced the window to look through the frame. Then garden and house had their own shapes; field and orchard their own plots. Li Heng kept a thousand orange trees; Shi Chong ten thousand mixed fruits. Both were what bold hearts loved to show—not what a spare heart took for joy. I wished them rank and thick, green poured out and red piled high; latticed windows, mirrored doors, joined eaves at every corner. Crimson rooms opened to four lights; jade leaves spread on nine ways. Red bloom drawn from purple bands; white stamen held on green calyx. For birds of the wood—wheeling, settling, dipping, leaving cry above and below; Chu finches of many names, flowing song in mixed chorus. Some with brocade tail and patterned wing, some with green neck and red brow. They loved hidden leaf and covered branch, now and then calling as they crossed. For water fowl—great swan and small goose, sky hound and marsh keeper; autumn heron, winter gull, long egret, short duck. dragging uneven soft weed, sporting light bodies in the shallows; wings struck the flow and raised foam, wings ruffled the wave into pearls. For fish—red carp and green bream, thin dart and heavy catfish. jade scale and cinnabar tail, long head and flat brow. small ones wrote patterns on the shoal; great ones threw white spray from the stream. I do not envy the river and the sea; for now we only forget each other in my house. For bamboo—the southeast's single glory, the nine offices' own marvel. Not moved from the Qi river; how could roots be split at the music pool? Autumn cicada sang on the leaf; winter sparrow cried on the branch. Wind reached the south study's eaves; snow weighed the north hall's edge. I walked the old road's wheel tracks; I watched how the men before judged true and false. Again and again they rail at the void and hunt for substance, calling every hardship easy. Unsatisfied in themselves yet greedy for more, they heap blame on things and call it burden. The maze that trapped men of old is the path I turn from today.

原農皇之攸始，討厥播之云初。肇變腥以粒食，乃人命之所儲。尋井田之往記，考阡陌於前書。顏簞食而樂在，鄭高廩而空虛。頃四百而不足，畝五十而有餘。撫幽衷而跼念，幸取給於庭廬。緯東菑之故耜，浸北畝之新渠。無褰爨於曉蓐，不抱惄於朝蔬。排外物以齊遣，獨爲累之在余。安事千斯之積，不羨汶陽之墟。

I reach back to where the Divine Farmer began and ask how the first seeding rose from cloud. When blood and raw meat became grain—that was the storehouse of human life. I follow the well-field in old annals and read the former texts on field and path. Yan Hui ate from a bamboo basket and was glad; Zheng filled the high granary and still stood empty. Four hundred for the district was too little; fifty per mu still left plenty. I press a cramped sorrow in my breast, glad to be fed from the thatch by the yard. I set the eastern furrow's old plough, flood the northern field's new channel. No pot lifted at dawn on the rush mat, no hunger nursed over the morning greens. I cast outer things aside to match my release—only on me does the burden lie. Why envy barns stacked a thousand deep? I do not covet Wenyang's fields.

臨巽維而騁目，卽堆塚而流眄。雖茲山之培塿，乃文靖之所宴。驅四牡之低昂，響繁笳之清囀。羅方員而綺錯，窮海陸而兼薦。奚一權之足偉，委千金其如線。試撫臆而爲言，豈斯風之可扇。將通人之遠旨，非庸情之所見。聊遷情而徙睇，識方阜於歸津。帶脩汀於桂渚，肇舉鍤於強秦。路縈吳而款越，塗被海而通閩。懷三鳥以長念，伊故鄉之可珍。實褰期於晚歲，非失步於方春。何東川之濔濔，獨流涕於吾人。謬參賢於昔代，亟徒游於茲所。侍采旄而齊轡，陪龍舟而遵渚。或列席而賦詩，或班觴而宴語。繐帷一朝冥漠，西陵忽其蔥楚。望商飇而永歎，每樂愷於斯觀。始則鐘石鏘珣，終以魚龍瀾漫。或升降有序，或浮白無算。貴則丙、魏、蕭、曹，親則梁武、周旦。莫不共霜霧而歇滅，與風雲而消散。眺孫后之墓田，尋雄霸之遺武。實接漢之後王，信開吳之英主。指衡岳而作鎮，苞江漢而爲宇。徒徵言於石槨，遂延災於金縷。忽蕪穢而不脩，同原陵之膴膴。寧知螻蟻之與狐兔，無論樵芻之與牧豎。睇東巘以流目，心悽愴而不怡。蓋昔儲之舊苑，實博望之餘基。脩林則表以桂樹，列草則冠以芳芝。風臺累翼，月榭重栭。千櫨捷嶫，百栱相持。皁轅林駕，蘭枻水嬉。逾三齡而事往，忽二紀以歷茲。咸夷漫以蕩滌，非古今之異時。

I look to the southeast and let the eye run free, then to the mound-tombs and let the gaze pour on. This hill is only a low mound—yet Wen Jing once feasted here. Four chestnuts rise and fall beneath the whip; clear panpipes answer in bright turns. Round and square dishes tangle like brocade; sea and land are drained in one offering. How could one beam's grandeur suffice? A thousand in gold is thin as thread. I press my breast and try to speak—can such a wind be stirred? It reaches the far intent of the penetrating man—not what vulgar feeling sees. For a moment I shift heart and turn my gaze, and know the square hill at the returning ford. Level sand belts Cassia Ford; the spade was first raised in mighty Qin. The road coils through Wu and knocks at Yue; the track skirts the sea and threads Min. I hold the three birds in long remembrance—how dear the old country is! Truly my hope waits on the year's late span; I have not missed the step in spring's prime. Why does the eastern stream run so wide—only I weep for our men? Wrongly I was ranked among the worthies of old, hurrying to roam at this place. I waited on feathered banners and matched their pace, followed dragon boats along the islets. Sometimes we took rank and wrote verse; sometimes we passed cups and feasted in talk. The coloured curtain—one morning went dark; the western mounds suddenly choked with scrub. I gaze at the autumn gale and sigh without end, yet each time find joy in this view. First bells and stones rang clear; in the end fish and dragons rolled in waves. Some rose and fell in order; some drained cups beyond counting. Noble were Bing Ji, Wei Xiang, Xiao He, and Cao Shen; close were the Duke of Zhou and Liang Wu. None failed to lie down with frost-mist and perish, to scatter with wind and cloud. I look on the tomb-fields of Sun's empress and seek a hegemon's martial traces. Truly he followed Han's later kings, trusted as the heroic lord who opened Wu. He set Heng Mountain as his barrier and wrapped Yangtze and Han as his realm. Only to summon words from a stone coffin—and so prolong disaster through gold threads. Suddenly overgrown and untended—like Yuanling's stretching mounds. Who knew ants and fox-rabbits matter no more than woodcutters and shepherd boys? I gaze at the eastern hill-crest and let the eyes drift—the heart grieves and will not ease. This was once the heir's old park, truly Bo Wang's remnant base. Trim groves were marked with cassia; ordered grasses crowned with fragrant orchids. Wind terraces piled wing on wing; moon pavilions doubled rafters. A thousand pillars shot up sharp; a hundred brackets locked together. Dark shafts lined the woods; orchid oars sported on the water. More than three years since affairs passed; suddenly two cycles have reached to now. All was levelled and washed by flood and sweep—not a different age from then to now.

回余眸於艮域，覿高館於茲嶺。雖混成以無跡，實遺訓之可秉。始飡霞而吐霧，終陵虛而倒影。駕雌蜺之連卷，泛天江之悠永。指咸池而一息，望瑤臺而高騁，匪爽言以自姱，冀神方之可請。惟鐘岩之隱鬱，表皇都而作峻，蓋望秩之所宗，含風雲而吐潤。其爲狀也，則巍峨崇袴，喬枝拂日；嶢嶷岧＜上山下亭＞，墜石堆星。岑崟峍屼，或坳或平；盤堅枕臥，詭狀殊形。孤嶝橫插，洞穴斜經；千丈萬仞，三襲九成。亘繞州邑，款跨郊坰；素煙晚帶，白霧晨縈。近循則一巖異色，遠望則百嶺俱青。

I turn my eyes to the northeast and behold the high lodge on this ridge. Though he merged into the whole and left no trace, his handed-down teaching can still be grasped. At first he ate cloud-mist and spat fog; at last he crossed the void and cast reflections down. He drove the rainbow serpent in rolling coils and floated on the heavenly river's long reach. He pointed at Marsh Pool for one rest, gazed at Jewelled Terrace and sped high—not boasting, hoping the divine method might be sought. Only Bell Crag's hidden mass, showing the imperial capital as loftiness—where altars look, holding wind and cloud and breathing moisture. As to its form: towering, clasping in grandeur, tall branches brushing the sun; lofty perilous peaks and hanging crags, fallen stones piled like stars. Peak on peak, jagged and steep, now hollow, now flat; coiled hard, laid recumbent, strange shapes and alien forms. Lone crags jut crosswise; caves and holes cut slanting through; a thousand zhang high, ten thousand ren deep, three tiers and nine stages. Stretching round district towns, spanning suburbs and fields; plain mist belts the dusk; white fog coils at dawn. Near at hand each crag wears its own colour; far off, a hundred peaks share one green.

觀二代之塋兆，睹摧殘之餘鹆遂。成顛沛於虐豎，康斂衿於虛器；穆恭已於岩廊，簡游情於玄肆；烈窮飲以致災，安忘懷而受祟。何宗祖之奇傑，威橫天而陵地。惟聖文之纘武，殆隆平之可至。余世德之所君，仰遺封而掩淚。神寢匪一，靈館相距。席布騂駒，堂流桂醑。降紫皇於天闕，延二妃於湘渚。浮蘭煙於桂棟，召巫陽於南楚。揚玉桴，握椒糈。怳臨風以浩唱，折瓊茅而延佇。敬惟空路邈遠，神蹤遐闊。念甚驚飆，生猶聚沫。歸妙軫於一乘，啓玄扉於三達。欲息心以遣累，必違人而後豁。或結郐愰於岩根，或開欞於木末。室闇蘿蔦，簷梢松栝。旣得理於兼謝，固忘懷於飢渴。或攀枝獨遠，或陵雲高蹈。因葺茨以結名，猶觀空以表號。得忘己於茲日，豈期心於來報。天假餘以大德，荷茲賜之無疆。受老夫之嘉稱，班燕禮於上庠。無希驥之秀質，乏如圭之令望。邀昔恩於舊主，重匪服於今皇。仰休老之盛則，請微軀於夕陽。勞蒙司而獲謝，猶奉職於春坊。時言歸於陋宇，聊暇日以翱翔。棲余志於淨國，歸余心於道場。獸依墀而莫駭，魚牣沼而不綱。旋迷塗於去轍，篤後念於徂光。晚樹開花，初英落蕊。或異林而分丹青，乍因風而雜紅紫。紫蓮夜發，紅荷曉舒。輕風微動，其芳襲余。風騷屑於園樹，月籠連於池竹。蔓長柯於簷桂，髮黃華於庭菊。冰懸埳而帶坻，雪縈松而被野。鴨屯飛而不散，雁高翔而欲下。並時物之可懷，雖外來而非假。𢉴情性之所留滯，亦志之而不能捨也。

I view two dynasties' tombs and behold the remnant mesh of their destruction. Cheng fell to vicious eunuchs; Kang smoothed his lapels before an empty throne; Mu Gongyi was courteous in the rocky gallery; Jian loosened his heart in the dark stalls; Lie drank past measure and drew disaster; An laid down care and drew harm. What men were those founding ancestors—power across heaven, rule across earth. Only sage Wen carried on the martial work—perhaps true peace could come. For generations my clan's virtue has ruled them; I look up at ancestral tombs and veil my tears. Spirit halls are many, not one; numinous lodges face each other across distance. Mats spread for ruddy calves; halls stream with cassia wine. Purple Emperor comes down at the heavenly gate; the two Xiang consorts are called at Xiang Ford. Orchid smoke drifts on cassia beams; Wu Yang is summoned to southern Chu. Jade clappers lift; peppered millet is taken in hand. As though singing vast songs into the wind, breaking cassia grass and standing long. In reverence—the void road is far; the divine trace stretches farther still. I think how sharp the sudden gale is; living is still clustered foam. Bring the subtle carriage back to one conveyance; open the dark gate on three paths. To quiet the heart and cast off burdens, you must turn from the crowd—only then does it clear. Some tie a thatched hut to the rock's foot, some open a lattice window in the tree's crown. The room dims with creeping vines; pine and cypress trail from the eaves. Once principle came through mutual release, hunger and thirst were firmly forgotten. Some climb branches alone into the far; some walk clouds in high steps. They make a name by thatching huts; still they take a title by gazing at emptiness. Today one may forget the self—who could expect the heart's return in days to come? Heaven lent me great virtue and loaded me with a gift without boundary. I took the old gentleman's fine praise, and banquet rites were set at the upper school. I lack the thousand-li steed's fine substance and the jade sceptre's fair prospect. I call back the old lord's former grace, yet again take unfit robes from today's emperor. I look up at the flourishing rule that honours age and ask this slight frame to rest in the setting sun. Though I toiled at the ministry gate and won dismissal, I still held office in the spring palace. Then speech turned toward my humble house; for a while I had leisure days to wander. My will nests in the pure land; my heart goes home to the dharma field. Beasts crouch by the terrace unstartled; fish fill the pool and no net is cast. I turn from the lost track of departing ruts and fix deep thought on the light of going forth. Late trees break into flower; first blossoms shed their pistils. Sometimes separate groves split green from red; suddenly wind mingles scarlet and purple. Purple lotus flowers at night; red lotus opens with dawn. A light breeze stirs; its fragrance reaches me. Wind rustles in garden trees; moonlight blankets the pond bamboo. Vines stretch along eaves-cassia; yellow blooms open on courtyard chrysanthemums. Ice hangs from banks and rims the islets; snow winds round pines and covers the wild. Ducks mass in flight without scattering; geese wheel high, about to alight. All the season offers is worth cherishing; though from outside, none is sham. What one's nature holds and lingers over, the will too cannot cast away.

傷余情之頹暮，罹憂患其相溢。悲異軫而同歸，歎殊方而並失。時復託情魚鳥，歸閑蓬蓽。旁闕吳娃，前無趙瑟。以斯終老，於焉消日。惟以天地之恩不報，書事之官靡述；徒重於高門之地，不載於良史之筆。長太息其何言，羌愧心之非一。

I grieve that feeling fades with age; trouble and sorrow overflow together. Sadly different roads reach one end; sighing that far-apart paths are lost alike. At times I give my heart to fish and birds, returning to leisure in a thatched hut. No Wu beauty at my side; no Zhao zither before me. With this I shall end my days, here passing my hours. Only Heaven and Earth's favor goes unrequited, and no court historian records it; I merely rank among great houses, yet earn no line in fine histories. Long I sigh—what more is there to say? Alas, shame in the heart is not one alone.

尋加特進，光祿、侍中、少傅如故。十二年，卒官，時年七十三。詔贈本官，賻錢五萬，布百匹，諡曰隱。

Soon he received Special Advance, keeping Grand Master for Splendor, Attendant-in-Ordinary, and Junior Tutor. In year 12 he died in office at seventy-three. An edict granted his former offices, fifty thousand cash in funeral gifts, a hundred bolts of cloth, posthumous title Yin.

約左目重瞳子，腰有紫志，聰明過人。好墳籍，聚書至二萬卷，京師莫比。少時孤貧，丐于宗黨，得米數百斛，爲宗人所侮，覆米而去。及貴，不以爲憾，用爲郡部傳。嘗侍讌，有妓師是齊文惠宮人。帝問識座中客不？曰：「惟識沈家令。」約伏座流涕，帝亦悲焉，爲之罷酒。約歷仕三代，該悉舊章，博物洽聞，當世取則。謝玄暉善爲詩，任彥昇工於文章，約兼而有之，然不能過也。自負高才，昧於榮利，乘時藉勢，頗累清談。及居端揆，稍弘止足。每進一官，輒殷勤請退，而終不能去，論者方之山濤。用事十餘年，未嘗有所薦達，政之得失，唯唯而已。

Yue's left eye had double pupils and a purple mark on his waist; his intelligence surpassed others. He loved the classics, gathered books to twenty thousand scrolls—none in the capital compared. Orphaned and poor in youth, he begged among kin for several hundred hu of rice; clansmen insulted him, so he overturned the rice and left. When he rose high he held no grudge; the tale was used in the district gazetteers. Once at a feast, a musician had been a palace woman of Qi Emperor Wenhui. The Emperor asked whether she knew any guest present. She said, "I know only Master Shen." Yue bowed at his seat and wept; the Emperor too was moved and stopped the feast. Yue served three dynasties, mastered old statutes, and was broadly learned—the age took him as its standard. Xie Xuanyuan excelled in poetry and Ren Yansheng in prose—Yue had both yet could not surpass either. Proud of towering talent, blind to rank and gain, he rode the times and borrowed power—much to the harm of pure discourse. Once at the summit of office, he showed some regard for restraint. At each promotion he earnestly asked to retire yet could never leave—men compared him to Shan Tao. In power more than ten years he never advanced anyone; on policy he only murmured assent.

初，高祖有憾於張稷，及稷卒，因與約言之。約曰：「尚書左僕射出作邊州刺史，已往之事，何足復論。」帝以爲婚家相爲，大怒曰：「卿言如此，是忠臣邪！」乃輦歸內殿。約懼，不覺高祖起，猶坐如初。及還，未至床，而憑空頓於戶下。因病，夢齊和帝以劍斷其舌。召巫視之，巫言如夢。乃呼道士奏赤章於天，稱禪代之事，不由己出。高祖遣上省醫徐奘視約疾，還具以狀聞。先此，約嘗侍讌，值豫州獻栗，徑寸半，帝奇之，問曰：「栗事多少？」與約各疏所憶，少帝三事。出謂人曰：「此公護前，不讓卽羞死。」帝以其言不遜，欲抵其罪，徐勉固諫乃止。及聞赤章事，大怒，中使譴責者數焉，約懼遂卒。有司諡曰文，帝曰：「懷情不盡曰隱。」故改爲隱云。所著《晉書》百一十卷，《宋書》百卷，《齊紀》二十卷，《高祖紀》十四卷，《邇言》十卷，《諡例》十卷，《宋文章志》三十卷，文集一百卷：皆行於世。又撰《四聲譜》，以爲在昔詞人，累千載而不寤，而獨得胸衿，窮其妙旨，自謂入神之作，高祖雅不好焉。帝問周捨曰：「何謂四聲？」舍曰：「天子聖哲」是也，然帝竟不遵用。

At first Gaozu resented Zhang Ji; when Ji died he spoke of it with Yue. Yue said, "A left vice director sent out as a border inspector—past matters, what need discuss them again?" The Emperor, thinking it kin shielding kin, raged: "You speak thus—are you a loyal minister!" He was borne back to the inner hall. Yue was afraid; not noticing Gaozu had risen, he still sat as before. Returning, before he reached the couch he pitched forward and fell by the door. Sick, he dreamed Qi Emperor He cut his tongue with a sword. He summoned a shaman; the shaman spoke as in the dream. He called Daoists to present red writs to Heaven, claiming the dynastic change had not come from him. Gaozu sent palace physician Xu Zang to examine Yue; returning, he reported everything. Earlier Yue had attended a feast when Yuzhou presented chestnuts an inch and a half across; the Emperor marveled and asked, "How much is there to say of chestnuts?" He and Yue each wrote what they recalled—the Emperor fell three items short. Leaving, he told someone, "This man guards his pride—he would die of shame rather than yield." The Emperor, finding the words insubordinate, meant to punish him; Xu Mian firmly remonstrated and he desisted. Hearing of the red writ, he was furious; palace envoys rebuked him repeatedly—Yue died in fear. The offices proposed posthumous title Wen; the Emperor said, "Holding feeling without exhausting it is called Yin." So it was changed to Yin. He wrote History of Jin in 110 scrolls, History of Song in 100, Annals of Qi in 20, Annals of the High Ancestor in 14, Near Words in 10, Posthumous Examples in 10, Literary Records of Song in 30, and collected works in 100—all circulated in his time. He also compiled Rhymes in Four Tones, holding that poets for a millennium had not understood tones while he alone had grasped their subtlety—a work he called divine—Gaozu disliked it greatly. The Emperor asked Zhou She, "What are the four tones?" She said, "The Son of Heaven is sage and wise"—that is it; yet the Emperor never adopted it.

子旋，及約時已歷中書侍郎，永嘉太守，司徒從事中郎，司徒右長史。免約喪，爲太子僕，復以母憂去官，而蔬食辟穀。服除，猶絕粳粱。爲給事黃門侍郎、中撫軍長史。出爲招遠將軍、南康內史，在部以清治稱。卒官，諡曰恭侯。子𢉴嗣。

His son Xuan; while Yue lived he had already been Secretariat Gentleman, Yongjia administrator, staff attendant of the Masters of Writing, and right chief clerk of the Masters of Writing. When Yue's mourning ended he was made crown prince steward; again he left office for his mother's mourning and lived on vegetables while fasting. When mourning ended he still abstained from polished grain. He was made Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Yellow Gate and chief clerk of the Central Pacification Army. He went out as General Who Draws the Distant and administrator of Nankang; in office he was known for pure governance. He died in office; posthumous title Respectful Marquis. His son Xuan succeeded.

陳吏部尚書姚察曰：昔木德將謝，昏嗣流虐，惵惵黔黎，命懸晷漏。高祖義拯橫潰，志寧區夏，謀謨帷幄，實寄良、平。至於范雲、沈約，參預締構，贊成帝業；加雲以機警明贍，濟務益時，約高才博洽，名亞遷、董，俱屬興運，蓋一代之英偉焉。 [1]

Chen Minister of Personnel Yao Cha said: When the virtue of wood was fading, a dim heir spread cruelty, and the trembling people hung their lives on the sundial's drip. Gaozu by righteousness rescued the flood of collapse and willed to settle the realm; stratagems in the tent truly rested on men like Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. As for Fan Yun and Shen Yue, they joined in founding and helped complete the imperial enterprise; Yun was keen and clear in aiding affairs; Yue had towering talent and broad learning, his name second only to Qian and Dong—both rode a rising fortune; they were a generation's giants. [1] Editorial footnote marker.

全文以中華書局、一九七三年五月版《梁書》爲本校。

The full text was collated against the Zhonghua Shuju edition of the Book of Liang (May 1973).

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