Send Off Public Document Recorder Wang, Who Also Returned to the South
送 王 监 簿 民 瞻 南 归
潮 头 打 云 云 不 留
月 波 泼 窗 窗 欲 流。
夜 寒 报 晴 岂 得 晓
天 公 端 为 卢 溪 老。
卢 溪 在 山 不 知 年
卢 溪 出 山 即 日 还。
黄 纸 苦 催 得 高 卧？
青 霞 成 癖 谁 能 那？
诏 谓 先 生 式 国 人
掉 头 已 复 烟 林 深。
路 旁 莫 作 两 疏 看
老 儒 不 用 橐 中 金。
Song Wang Jian Bu Min Zhan Nan Gui
Chao tou da yun yun bu liu
Yue bo po chuang chuang yu liu.
Ye han bao qing qi de xiao
Tian gong duan wei lu xi lao.
Lu xi zai shan bu zhi nian
Lu xi chu shan ji ri huan.
Huang zhi ku cui de gao wo?
Qing xia cheng pi shei neng na?
Zhao wei xian sheng shi guo ren
Diao tou yi fu yan lin shen.
Lu pang mo zuo liang shu kan
Lao ru bu yong tuo zhong jin.
Send Off Public Document Recorder Wang, Who Also Returned to the South
In front of the tidal bore waves, billowing spray not dissipating
Moonlight upon the wavy mists as they flow down small windows.
Cold evening, reports of a clear dawn breaking
Immortal’s influence makes you an old Luxi.
Year after year Luxi lived upstream in the mountains of Luxi
Luxi goes outside the mountains, then in one day he returns.
Imperial edicts arrive, why does he thumb his nose and continues his retreat?
An addiction to enjoy the blue mountain haze in the morning glow, how can one leave this?
Imperial summons want Luxi to model for and teach our compatriots
His reply: he turns around and goes deeper into the forests.
He had no one lining the roadsides leading outside the capital
Luxi left so early in the morning, no one was there to jingle bags of gold for him to consider staying.
Notes:
[Written after the previous poems in the winter of 1163. Mr. Wang refuses to serve the emperor in the capital city so full of the dirt of crime and corruption.]
Luxi: This is both a nickname for Mr. Wang, and the name of a small stream that runs through his hometown, and perhaps a name to describe someone who refuses government service for the serenity of their local mountains.
Jingle bags of gold: This is an historical allusion to two high level ministers during the Han Dynasty. As they left the capital, the roadsides were lined with people wanting them to stay, as well as the emperor trying to bribe them to continue in his service.
