On the Seasonable Rain Pavilion..........Su Shi

喜雨亭记

苏轼

亭以雨名，志喜也。古者有喜，则以名物，示不忘也。周公得禾，以名其书；汉武得鼎，以名其年；叔孙胜敌，以名其子。其喜之大小不齐，其示不忘一也。

予至扶风之明年，始治官舍。为亭于堂之北，而凿池其南，引流种木，以为休息之所。是岁之春，雨麦于岐山之阳，其占为有年。既而弥月不雨，民方以为忧。越三月，乙卯乃雨，甲子又雨，民以为未足。丁卯大雨，三日乃止。官吏相与庆于庭，商贾相与歌于市，农夫相与忭于野，忧者以喜，病者以愈，而吾亭适成。

于是举酒于亭上，以属客而告之，曰：“五日不雨可乎？”曰：“五日不雨则无麦。”“十日不雨可乎？”曰：“十日不雨则无禾。”“无麦无禾，岁且荐饥，狱讼繁兴，而盗贼滋炽。则吾与二三子，虽欲优游以乐于此亭，其可得耶？今天不遗斯民，始旱而赐之以雨。使吾与二三子得相与优游以乐于此亭者，皆雨之赐也。其又可忘耶？”

既以名亭，又从而歌之，曰：“使天而雨珠，寒者不得以为襦；使天而雨玉，饥者不得以为粟。一雨三日，伊谁之力？民曰太守。太守不有，归之天子。天子曰不然，归之造物。造物不自以为功，归之太空。太空冥冥，不可得而名。吾以名吾亭。”

On the Seasonable Rain Pavilion

Su Shi

  This pavilion is named after rain in celebration of a joyous event. In the event of joyous happenings in ancient times, things were named after such happenings to mean that they should not be forgotten. When Duke of Zhou received the rice granted by the Emperor, he used Jiahe (golden harvest) as the title of an article he had written. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty got a precious tripod, he named his reign title Yuanding (the august tripod). When he defeated his enemy Qiaoru, Shusun Dechen named his son after Qiaoru. Though happy events were different in scale, the purpose of naming after them was the same.

  It was not until the second year of my arrival in Fufeng that I began to have an official residence built. I had a pavilion put up as a place of repose on the north side of the main house with a pond on the south side, from which water is drawn for the trees planted around. In the spring that year, it rained in the south of Mount Qishan where wheat was growing vigorously. According to divination it would be a year of bumper harvest. Then, however, it did not rain for a whole month, and the people became worried. In the third month, it rained on the day of Yimao; on the day of Jiazi it rained again, but the people still didn’t think they had enough rain. On the day of Dingmao it rained once again for three days on end. The officials celebrated together in the courtyard; the merchants sang in chorus in the market place; the peasants felt delighted in the fields; sad people rejoiced, the sick were cured, and my pavilion was completed as well.

  So I held a banquet in the pavilion, and spoke to the guests about the rain. I asked them, “How about five days without rain?” They said in reply: “Five days without rain, the wheat would not grow.” “What about ten days without rain?” I asked. “Rice cannot be kept alive without rain for ten days,” they answered. “If there were no wheat nor rice, it would be a year of famine. Lawsuits would increase and thieves would go rampant. In that case, even if I intended to have fun with you in this pavilion, would it be possible for us to do so? Now Heaven does not abandon the people here, just at the time there was going to be a drought, Heaven granted us the blessed rain, so that you and I can amuse ourselves in this pavilion, all of which is granted by the rain! How can we forget about this?”

  After the naming of pavilion after rain, a song followed in its praise. The song lyrics say: “Even if pearls fell onto the ground, those suffering cold could not take them for a jacket; even if white jade fell from the sky, the starved could not eat it for food. It has rained for three days, and whose power shall we owe it to? People owe it to the governor, but the governor says he doesn’t have such power. To the Emperor, the Emperor also denies. To the Creator, the Creator refuses to credit it to himself. To the Space, the Space is too void and ethereal to be named after. So I name my pavilion after rain.”

Translated by Jin Deming