In Memory of Myself: Part 3
自祭文
寿 涉 百 龄
身 慕 肥 遁
从 老 得 终
奚 所 复 恋！
寒 暑 逾 迈
亡 既 异 存
外 姻 晨 来
良 友 宵 奔
葬 之 中 野
以 安 其 魂。
窅 窅 我 行
萧 萧 墓 门
奢 耻 宋 臣
俭 笑 王 孙
廓 兮 已 灭
慨 焉 已 遐
不 封 不 树、
日 月 遂 过。
匪 贵 前 誉
孰 重 后 歌？
人 生 实 难
死 如 之 何？
鸣呼哀哉！
Zi Ji Wen
Shou she bai ling
Shen mu fei dun.
Cong lao dei zhong
Xi suo fu lian!
Han shu yu mai
Wang ji yi cun.
Wai yin chen lai
Liang you xiao ben.
Zang zhi zhong ye
Yi an qi hun.
Yao yao wo xing
Xiao xiao mu men
She chi song chen
Jian xiao wang sun
Kuo xi yi mie
Kai yan yi xia
Bu feng bu shu
Ri yue sui guo.
Fei gui qian yu
Shu chong hou ge?
Ren shen shi nan
Si ru zhi he?
Ming hu ai zai!
In Memory of Myself: Part 3
If I were given the long life of one hundred years
I would still yearn for the life of rural seclusion
From birth to the day I die
There is nothing else for me to long for!
From the cold of winter to the summer heat
Someone is born, someone dies.
Each of these two existences are different
This morning, my outside relatives have arrived.
My good friends hurry to get here by evening
I will be interred in the middle of open country.
This will make my soul content and peaceful
My coffin will travel soft and lonely
To its open grave like the wind.
Big shame on the government official Song Chen
Whose burial was too fancy (took three years to make his coffin)
But Wang Sun’s was too frugal and simple.
Your body’s appearances will disappear
Most grieve that the deceased will never be seen again.
I do not need a burial stone, or to plant a tree
Days and months pass by with people forgetting what went before.
My reputation and name not valuable while alive
Who can later sing your praises?
Human experiences hard and difficult
So what is death like?
Alas, such grief and sorrow!
Notes:
Wang Sun: Lived during the Western Han Dynasty (206-24 BC). Influential government official, did not follow the Confucian burial rites.
