韩愈·《祭十二郎文》英译
年月日，季父愈，闻汝丧之七日，乃能衔哀致诚，使建中远具时羞之奠，告汝十二郎之灵。
呜呼，吾少孤，及长，不省所怙，惟兄嫂是依。中年，兄殁南方，吾与汝俱幼，从嫂归葬河阳。既又与汝就食江南。零丁孤苦，未尝一日相离也。
吾上有三兄，皆不幸早世。承先人后者，在孙惟汝，在子惟吾，两世一身，形单影只。嫂尝抚汝指吾而言曰：“韩氏两世，惟此而已！”汝时尤小，当不复记忆，吾时虽能记忆，亦未知其言之悲也。
吾年十九，始来京城。其后四年，而归视汝。又四年，吾往河阳，省坟墓，遇汝从嫂丧来葬。又二年，吾佐董丞相于汴州，汝来省吾。止一岁，请归取其孥。明年，丞相薨，吾去汴州，汝不果来。是年，吾佐戎徐州，使取汝者始行，吾又罢去，汝又不果来。
吾念汝从于东，东亦客也，不可以久。图久远者，莫如西归，将成家而致汝。呜呼，孰谓汝遽去吾而殁乎？吾与汝俱少年，以为虽暂相别，终当久与相处，故舍汝而旅食京师，以求斗斛之禄。诚知其如此，虽万乘之公相，吾不以一日辍汝而就也。
去年，孟东野往。吾书与汝曰：“吾年未四十，而视茫茫，而发苍苍，而齿牙动摇。念诸父与诸兄，皆康强而早逝。如吾之衰者，其能久存乎？”吾不可去，汝不肯来，恐旦暮死，而汝抱无涯之戚也。孰谓少者殁而长者存，强者夭而病者全乎？
呜呼，其信然邪？其梦邪？其传之非其真邪？信也，吾兄之盛德而夭其嗣乎？汝之纯明而不克蒙其泽乎？少者强者而夭殁，长者衰者而存全乎？
未可以为信也，梦也，传之非其真也，东野之书，耿兰之报，何为而在吾侧也？呜呼，其信然矣！吾兄之盛德而夭其嗣矣！汝之纯明，宜业其家者，不克蒙其泽矣！所谓天者诚难测，而神者诚难明矣！所谓理者不可推，而寿者不可知矣！
虽然，吾自今年来，苍苍者或化而为白矣。动摇者欲脱而落矣。毛血日益衰。志气日益微。几何不从汝而死也。死而有知，其几何离。其无知，悲不几时，而不悲者无穷期矣。
汝之子始十岁，吾之子始五岁。少而强者不可保，如此孩提者，又可冀其成立邪？呜呼哀哉！呜呼哀哉！
汝去年书云，比得软脚病，往往而剧。吾曰，是疾也，江南之人常常有之，未始以为忧也。呜呼，其竟以此而殒其生乎？抑别有疾而至斯极乎？
汝之书，六月十七日也。东野云，汝殁以六月二日，耿兰之报无月日。盖东野之使者，不知问家人以月日，如耿兰之报，不知当言月日。东野与吾书，乃问使者，使者妄称以应之乎。其然乎，其不然乎？
今吾使建中祭汝，吊汝之孤，与汝之乳母。彼有食，可守以待终丧，则待终丧而取以来。如不能守以终丧，则遂取以来。其余奴婢，并令守汝丧。吾力能改葬，终葬汝于先人之兆，然后惟其所愿。
呜呼，汝病吾不知时，汝殁吾不知日。生不能相养于共居，殁不能抚汝以尽哀。敛不凭其棺，窆不临其穴。吾行负神明，而使汝夭，不孝不慈，而不能与汝相养以生，相守以死。一在天之涯，一在地之角。生而影不与吾形相依，死而魂不与吾梦相接。吾实为之，其又何尤？彼苍者天，曷其有极！
自今已往，吾其无意于人世矣。当求数顷之田于伊颍之上，以待馀年。教吾子与汝子幸其成长，吾女与汝女待其嫁，如此而已。
呜呼，言有穷而情不可终。汝其知也邪？其不知也邪？呜呼哀哉，尚飨！
Funerary Message to Nephew No. 12
On (date, month and year), seven days after hearing of his death, Uncle Yu, with sorrow and sincerity, has been able to ask Chien-chung to arrange a sacrificial feast, with delicacies of the season, for the spirit of Nephew No. 12 and to send him the following message:
Alas, I was bereaved of my parents when I was young! When I grew up, I had to rely on my brother and sister-in-law for their support. My brother died in the South when he was middle-aged. At that time you and I were both very young, and we followed my sister-in-law to bury my brother at Hoyang. Then you and I earned our living south of the Yangtze. As we were both orphaned and alone, we were in each other’s company daily and never separated.
Before me there were three brothers, who all unfortunately had died early. You and I were the only ones in our generations to succeed our ancestors, and each of us was the sole male descendant in his generation. On one occasion my sister-in-law, with you in her arms, pointed at us and said, “These are the only ones left in two generations of the Han family!” As you were even younger, most probably you cannot recall. Though I can recall it, I did not realize how sad the remark was.
I did not come to the capital until I was nineteen. Four years later, I went home to see you. Four years after that, I went to Hoyang to visit our ancestral tombs and met you on your way to bury my sister-in-law. Another two years, and I went to Pienchow to assist Prime Minister Tung. It was then that you came to see me. Only one year elapsed before you asked leave to fetch your family. The Prime Minister died in the following year, and I left Piechow before you could join me there. That year I was an assistant at the military headquarters in Hsuchow. No sooner had I sent for you than I was relieved of my post. Again you were not able to come.
I thought that, when you were in the East, you were a mere visitor and could not stay there long. As a permanent plan, there was nothing like returning to the West. I was thus prepared to make my home there and send for you. Alas, who could have foreseen that you would leave me and die unexpectedly? As we were both young men, I thought that despite our temporary separation we would ultimately live together for yet a long time. That is why I left you and lived in the capital to earn a tou or hu of official rice. Had I known what would happen, I would not have accepted the position of a duke or prime minister that comes with ten thousand carriages and missed you for a single day!
Last year, when Meng Tung-yeh visited you, I took the occasion to write to you in these words: “I am not quite forty, but my sight is getting dim, my hair gray and my teeth shaky. As I recall, my father, uncles and brothers were all hale and healthy but died early. Can someone as infirm as I live long?” At that time I could not leave nor did you consent to come. I was afraid that I might die one day and cause you unbounded grief. Who could expect that the young would die and the elderly live, that the strong would die and the sickly be spared?
Alas, is it true? Or is it all a dream? Is the information passed on not the truth? If it is true, can a man of as great virtue as my brother be deprived of his heir at such an early age? Can someone as bright and pure as you not receive his blessing? Can the young and strong die and the elderly and infirm be spared?
If it could not be believed, if it were a dream and if the information passed on was not the truth, why are the letter of Tung-yeh and the report of Keng Lan at my side? Alas, it is true! A man of as great virtue as my brother did lose his son at an early age! Someone as bright and pure as you, who should succeed to the family tradition, could not receive his blessing! What is called Heaven is hard to predict and the gods are hard to understand! What is called reason cannot be gauged and our life span cannot be known!
Since the start of this year, what was gray has partly become white, and what were shaky have partly fallen out, my hair and blood have steadily weakened and my ambition has daily dwindled. It should not be long before I follow you to the grave! If there is consciousness after death, how can we be separated for any length of time? If there is no consciousness then, my feeling of sadness will not endure, and then for an unlimited time I shall have no sadness at all.
Your son is only ten years old, and mine just five. Since the young and strong cannot be spared, can these children be expected to grow up? Alas, how sad, how sad!
A letter you sent last year said that you had contracted beriberi, which worsened frequently. In reply I said that people south of the Yangtze often have this disease, and so I did not worry very much about it. Alas, was it just this that killed you, or was it something else that proved fatal?
Your letter was dated the seventeenth of the sixth month. On the other hand, Tung-yeh said that you had died on the second of that month, and the report of Keng Lan was undated. Tung-yeh’s messenger had not inquired of our folks about the exact date, while Keng Lan did not know that the report should bear a date. The letter Tung-yeh sent me gave the date he had heard from the messenger, who had answered his query haphazardly. Is this true or is it not?
Now I am asking Chien-chung to offer my sacrifices to you and send my condolences to your bereaved children and your nurse. If they have sufficient food and can afford to wait till the end of the period of mourning, they can be fetched here at that time. On the other hand, if they cannot wait, they may come immediately. As to other male and female servants, I shall see that they remain in mourning for you. When I am able to move your grave, I shall arrange for your reburial in our ancestral cemetery, and only then can I consider my wishes fulfilled.
Alas, when you were sick, I did not know the exact time; and when you died, I did not know the exact date! When you were alive, I could not live with you, so that we could have taken care of each other; and when you died, I could not express my grief in full at your side. When you were dressed for the coffin, I could not witness it; and when you were buried, I was absent from your grave. My acts were unworthy in the gods’ eyes and caused you to die young. I am both unfilial to my parents and unkind to the younger generation, so that we could not live together and take care of each other till our death. Now, while one is on the border of Heaven, the other is at the corner of the death. When you lived, your shadow was seldom beside me, and after your death your soul is not in contact with my dreams. Since I have caused all this, whom can I blame? Oh, Heaven above, is there any end to my grief?
From now on I shall lose all my interest in this world, and I shall seek a few ch’ing of farm land on the I land Ying for my remaining years. I shall teach your son and mine till they grow up, and I shall take care of your daughter and mine till they are married.
Alas, words are exhaustible but sometimes never end! Do you know or do you not know? Alas, how sad! May you partake of this feast!