Sacrificial Essay of Warning to Crocodiles..........Han Yu

祭鳄鱼文

韩愈

维年月日，潮州刺史韩愈使军事衙推秦济，以羊一、猪一，投恶溪之潭水，以与鳄鱼食，而告之曰：

昔先王既有天下，列山泽，罔绳擉刃，以除虫蛇恶物为民害者，驱而出之四海之外。及后王德薄，不能远有，则江汉之间，尚皆弃之以与蛮、夷、楚、越；况潮岭海之间，去京师万里哉！鳄鱼之涵淹卵育于此，亦固其所。今天子嗣唐位，神圣慈武，四海之外，六合之内，皆抚而有之；况禹迹所揜，扬州之近地，刺史、县令之所治，出贡赋以供天地宗庙百神之祀之壤者哉!鳄鱼其不可与刺史杂处此土也。

刺史受天子命，守此土，治此民，而鳄鱼睅然不安溪潭，据处食民畜、熊、豕、鹿、獐，以肥其身，以种其子孙；与刺史亢拒，争为长雄；刺史虽驽弱，亦安肯为鳄鱼低首下心，伈伈睍睍，为民吏羞，以偷活于此邪！且承天子命以来为吏，固其势不得不与鳄鱼辨。

鳄鱼有知，其听刺史言：潮之州，大海在其南，鲸、鹏之大，虾、蟹之细，无不归容，以生以食，鳄鱼朝发而夕至也。今与鳄鱼约：尽三日，其率丑类南徙于海，以避天子之命吏；三日不能，至五日；五日不能，至七日；七日不能，是终不肯徙也。是不有刺史、听从其言也；不然，则是鳄鱼冥顽不灵，刺史虽有言，不闻不知也。夫傲天子之命吏，不听其言，不徙以避之，与冥顽不灵而为民物害者，皆可杀。刺史则选材技吏民，操强弓毒矢，以与鳄鱼从事，必尽杀乃止。其无悔！

Sacrificial Essay of Warning to Crocodiles

Han Yu

  On a certain day of a certain month in a certain year, Han Yu, Governor of Chaozhou Prefecture, dispatched his military subordinate Qin Ji to plunge a sheep and a pig into a river called Evil Stream as sacrificial food for the crocodiles to eat, along with a letter of warning, which reads as follows.

  In ancient times, when monarchs were in possession of the land under heaven, they burned the vegetation on the mountains and marshland, caught insects, snakes and hideous beasts with ropes and nets, or stabbed them with knives, in order to get rid of such creatures as are harmful to people, and drive them out of this extensive land. When later monarchs did not have enough virtues and prestige to rule over the whole land, large areas between the Yangtze and Han rivers had to be abandoned to the barbarous tribes and ethnic groups in the southeast. Furthermore, situated between the Five Ridges and the South China Sea, Chaozhou is almost ten thousand miles away from the capital, and it is only natural that crocodiles lurk and reproduce here.Today, the Son of Heaven inherits the Throne of the Tang Dynasty, and His Majesty is as holy, mighty, merciful and brave as deities. Even the lands outside the four seas and within the six domains in the east, west, north, south are under his pacifying governance. What’s more, Chaozhou is a place where Da Yu left his footprints, a region close to the Yangzhou Prefecture, an area governed by the officials of the Prefecture and the counties, and a place to pay tributes and taxes to the emperor for him to worship heaven, earth, ancestors and all the deities. Crocodiles are definitely not allowed to live on this land together with the prefectural governor!

  Appointed by the Emperor, the prefectural governor assumes the responsibility for guarding the land and governing the people here, but crocodiles should become so rampant as not to stay contented in rivers and streams. Instead, they occupy places and eat up people, livestock, bears, pigs, deer and roebuck to fatten themselves, reproduce their own offspring, and fiercely contend with the governor to be the local overlords. Dull and weak as he is, being the governor, how can he bow to the crocodiles, appear timid and afraid, dishonor the officials that rule the people, and muddle along here in disgrace? What is more, since he assumes office here by order of the Son of Heaven, he is obliged to reason with the crocodiles.

  If crocodiles possess adequate senses, they had better listen to him. To the south of Chaozhou Prefecture is the sea, which accommodates such huge creatures as whales and rocs, and tiny ones as shrimps and crabs, all surviving and living on the sustenance there. Leaving Chaozhou in the morning, crocodiles can reach the sea by evening. Now the governor has fixed an appointment with the crocodiles: Within three days as best they can, they shall head their ugly pals south for the sea, in order to avoid the prefectural governor that is appointed by the Emperor. If they fail to do so, the period can be extended to five days, and then even to seven days. Failure to meet the requirements within seven days obviously means they refuse to migrate, have no respect for the governor and will not listen to him. In such a case, the crocodiles are considered stupid and stubborn. Although the governor has made things clear in advance, they still remain deaf and dumb. Any creature that is arrogant and disrespectful to the governor appointed by the Son of Heaven, or disdains to listen to him, refuses to move away or shuns him, or acts so stubbornly as to kill people and damage property, shall be definitely put to death. The governor will have to select talented and competent officials and skilled commoners, so they will hold strong bows fitted with toxic arrowheads, and fight with crocodiles till all of them are terminated. Don’t the crocodiles ever regret it！

Translated by Jin Deming