北风如刀，满地冰霜。	
江南近海滨的一条大路上，一队清兵手执刀枪，押着七辆囚车，冲风冒寒，向北而行。	Along a coastal road somewhere south of the Yangtze River, a detachment of soldiers, each of them armed with a halberd, was escorting a line of seven prison carts, trudging northwards in the teeth of a bitter wind.
前面三辆囚车中分别监禁的是三个男子，都作书生打扮，一个是白发老者，两个是中年人。	In each of the first three carts a single male prisoner was caged, identifiable by his dress as a member of the scholar class. One was a white-haired old man. The other two were men of middle years.
后面四辆囚车中坐的是女子，最后一辆囚车中是个少妇，怀中抱着个女婴。	The four rear carts were occupied by women, the last of them by a young mother holding a baby girl at her breast.
女婴啼哭不休。 她母亲温言相呵，女婴只是大哭。	The little girl was crying in a continuous wail which her mother's gentle words of comfort were powerless to console.
囚车旁一清兵恼了，伸腿在车上踢了一脚，喝道：“再哭，再哭！	One of the soldiers marching alongside, irritated by the baby's crying, aimed a mighty kick at the cart. 'Stop it! Shut up!
老子踢死你！”	Or I'll really give you something to cry about!'
那女婴一惊，哭得更加响了。	The baby, startled by this sudden violence, cried even louder.
离开道路数十丈处有座大屋，屋檐下站着一个中年文士，一个十一二岁的小孩。	Under the eaves of a large house, some hundred yards from the road, a middle-aged scholar was standing with a ten- or eleven-year-old boy at his side.
那文士见到这等情景，不禁长叹一声，眼眶也红了，说道：“可怜，可怜！”	He was evidently affected by this little scene, for a groan escaped his lips and he appeared to be very close to tears. 'Poor creatures!' he murmured to himself.
那小孩问道：“爹爹，他们犯了什么罪？”	'Papa,' said the little boy, 'what have they done wrong?'
那文士道：“又犯了什么罪？	'What indeed!' said the man, bitterly.
昨日和今朝已逮去了三十几人，都是我们浙江有名的读书人，个个都是无辜株连。” 他说到“无辜株连”四子，声音压得甚低，生怕给押囚车的官兵听见了。	'During these last two days they must have made more than thirty arrests. All our best scholars. And all of them innocents, caught up in the net,' he added in an undertone, for fear that the soldiers might hear him.
那小孩道：“那个小女孩还在吃奶，难道也犯了罪么？	That girl's only a baby,' said the boy. 'What can she possibly be guilty of?
真没道理。”	It's very wrong.'
那文士道：“你懂得官兵没道理，真是好孩子。	'So you understand that what the Government soldiers do is wrong,' said the man. 'Good for you, my son!'
哎，人为刀俎，我为鱼肉，人为鼎镬，我为麋鹿！”	He sighed. 'They are the cleaver and we are the meat. They are the cauldron and we are the deer.'
那小孩道：“爹，你前几天教过我， ‘人为刀俎，我为鱼肉’，就是给人家斩割屠杀的意思。	'You explained "they are the cleaver and we are the meat" the other day, papa,' said the boy. 'It's what they say when people are massacred or beheaded.
人家是切菜刀，是砧板，我们就是鱼和肉。	Like meat or fish being sliced up on the chopping-board.
“人为鼎镬，我为麋鹿”这两句话，意思也差不多么？”	Does "they are the cauldron and we are the deer" mean the same thing?'
那文士道：“正是！” 眼见官兵和囚车已经去远，拉着小孩的手道：“外面风大，我们回屋里去。”	'Yes, more or less,' said the man; and since the train of soldiers and prison carts was now fast receding, he took the boy by the hand. 'Let's go indoors now,' he said. 'It's too windy for standing outside.'
当下父子二人走进书房。	Indoors the two of them went, and into his study.
那文士提笔蘸上了墨，在纸上写了个“鹿”字，说道：“鹿这种野兽，虽是庞然大物，性子却极为平和，只吃青草和树叶，从来不伤害别的野兽。	The man picked up a writing-brush and moistened it on the ink-slab, then, on a sheet of paper, he wrote the character for a deer. 'The deer is a wild animal, but although it is comparatively large, it has a very peaceable nature. It eats only grass and leaves and never harms other animals.
凶猛的野兽要伤它吃它，它只有逃跑，倘若逃不了，那只有给人家吃了。”	So when other animals want to hurt it or to eat it, all it can do is run away. If it can't escape by running away, it gets eaten.'
又写了“逐鹿”两字，说道：“因此古人常常拿鹿来比喻天下。	He wrote the characters for 'chasing the deer' on the sheet of paper. 'That's why in ancient times they often used the deer as a symbol of Empire.
世上百姓都温顺善良，只有给人欺压残害的份儿。	The common people, who are the subjects of Empire, are gentle and obedient. Like the deer's, it is their lot to be cruelly treated and oppressed.
《汉书》上说：‘秦失其鹿，天下共逐之。’	In the History of the Han Dynasty it says "Qin lost the deer and the world went chasing after it".
那就是说，秦朝失了天下，群雄并起，大家争夺，最后汉高祖打败了楚霸王，就得了这只又肥又大的鹿。”	That means that when the Qin Emperor lost control of the Empire, ambitious men rose up everywhere and fought each other to possess it. In the end it was the first Han Emperor who got this big, fat deer by defeating the Tyrant King of Chu.'
那小孩点头道：“我明白了。	'I know,' said the boy.
小说书上说‘逐鹿中原’，就是大家争着要作皇帝的意思。”	'In my story-books it says "they chased the deer on the Central Plain". That means they were all fighting each other to become Emperor.'
那文士甚是喜欢，点了点头，在纸上画了一只鼎的图形，道：“古人煮食，不用灶头锅子，用这样三只脚的鼎，下面烧柴，捉到了鹿，就在鼎里煮来吃。	The scholar nodded, pleased with his young son's astuteness. He drew a picture of a cauldron on the sheet of paper. 'In olden times they didn't use a cooking-pot on the stove to cook their food in, they used a three-legged cauldron like this and lit a fire underneath it. When they caught a deer they put it in a cauldron to seethe it.
皇帝和大官都很残忍，心里不喜欢谁，就说他犯了罪，把他放在鼎里活活煮熟。	Those ancient Emperors and great ministers were very cruel. If they didn't like somebody, they would pretend that they had committed some crime or other, and then they would put them in a cauldron and boil them.
《史记》中记载蔺相如对秦王说：‘臣知欺大王之罪当诛也，臣请就鼎锅。’	In the Records of an Historian Lin Xiangru says to the King of Qin, "Deceiving Your Majesty was a capital offence. I beg to approach the cauldron."
就是说：‘我该死，将我在鼎里烧死了罢！’”	What he meant was, "I deserve to die. Put me in the cauldron and boil me."'
那小孩道：“小说书上又常说‘问鼎中原’，这跟‘逐鹿中原’好像意思差不多。”	'Often in my story-books I've seen the words "asking about the cauldrons in the Central Plain",' said the boy. 'It seems to mean the same thing as "chasing the deer in the Central Plain".'
那文士道：“不错。	'It does,' said the man.
夏禹王收九州之金，铸了九大鼎。	'King Yu of the Xia dynasty, the first dynasty that ever was, collected metal from all the nine provinces of the Empire and used it to cast nine great cauldrons with.
当时所谓的“金”其实是铜。	"Metal" in those days meant bronze.
每一口鼎上铸了九州的名字和山川图形，后世为天下之主的，便保有九鼎。	Each of these bronze cauldrons had the name of one of the nine provinces on it and a map showing the mountains and rivers of that province. In later times whoever became master of the Empire automatically became the guardian of these cauldrons.
《左传》上说：‘楚子观兵于周疆。 定王使王孙满劳楚子。 楚子问鼎之大小轻重焉。’	In The Chronicle of Zuo it says that when the Viscount of Chu was reviewing his troops on Zhou territory and the Zhou king sent Prince Man to him with his royal compliments, the Viscount questioned Prince Man about the size and weight of the cauldrons.
只有天下之主，方能保有九鼎。	Of course, as ruler of the whole Empire, only the Zhou king had the right to be guardian of the cauldrons.
楚子只是楚国的诸侯，他问鼎的轻重大小，便是心存不轨，想取周王之位而代之。”	For a mere Viscount like the ruler of Chu to ask questions about them showed that he was planning to seize the Empire for himself.'
那小孩道：“所以‘问鼎’、‘逐鹿’便是想做皇帝。	'So "asking about the cauldrons" and "chasing the deer" both mean wanting to be Emperor, ' said the boy.
‘未知鹿死谁手’，就是不知哪一个做成了皇帝。”	'And "not knowing who will kill the deer" means not knowing who is going to be Emperor.'
那文士道：“正是。	'That's right,' said the man.
到得后来，‘问鼎’、‘逐鹿’，这四个字，也可借用于别处，但原来的出典，是专指做皇帝而言。”	'As time went by these expressions came to be applied to other situations as well, but originally they were only used in the sense of wanting to be Emperor.'
说到这里，叹了口气，道：“咱们做百姓的，总是死路一条。	He sighed. 'For the common people though, the subjects of Empire, our role is to be the deer.
‘未知鹿死谁手’，只不过未知是谁来杀了这头鹿，这头鹿，却是死定了的。”	It may be uncertain who will kill the deer, but the deer gets killed all right. There's no uncertainty about that.'
他说着走到窗边，向窗外望去， 只见天色沉沉的，似要下雪，叹道：“老天爷何其不仁，数百个无辜之人，在这冰霜遍地的道上行走。	He walked over to the window and gazed outside. The sky had now turned a leaden hue showing that snow was on its way. He sighed again, 'He must be a cruel God up there. Those hundreds of poor, innocent souls on the roads in this freezing weather.
下起雪来，可又多受一番折磨了。”	The snow will only add to their sufferings.'
忽见南边大道上两个人戴着斗笠，并肩而来，走到近处，认出了面貌。 那文士大喜，道：“是你黄伯伯、顾伯伯来了！” 快步迎将出去，叫道：“梨洲兄、亭林兄，哪一阵好风，吹得你二位光临？”	Two figures caught his eye, moving along the highway from the south. They walked close together, side by side, each of them wearing a coolie hat and a rain-cape. As they drew nearer, he recognized them with a cry of pleasure. 'It's Uncle Huang and Uncle Gu,' he said to the boy as he hurried out to greet them. 'Zongxi, Yanwu, what good wind blows you hither?' he called out to them.
右首一人身形微胖，颏下一部黑须，姓黄名宗羲，字梨洲，浙江余姚人士。	The one he addressed as 'Zongxi' was a somewhat portly man with a plentiful beard covering the lower half of his face. His full name was Huang Zongxi and he, like his host, was a man of Zhejiang Province.
左首一人又高又瘦，面目黝黑，姓顾名炎武，字亭林，江苏昆山人士。	The other one, a tall, thin man with a swarthy complexion, was Gu Yanwu, a native of Kunshan in Jiangsu Province.
黄顾两人都是当世大儒，明亡之后，心伤国变，隐居不仕，这日连袂来到崇德。	Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu were two of the foremost scholars of their day. Both of them, from patriotic motives, had gone into retirement when the Ming Empire collapsed, being unwilling to take office under a foreign power.
顾炎武走上几步，说道：“晚村兄，有一件要紧的事，特来和你商议。”	Gu Yanwu drew a little closer before replying. 'Liuliang, we have something serious to discuss with you. That's what brings us here today.'
这文士姓吕名留良，号晚村，世居浙江府崇德县，也是明末、清初一位极有名的隐士。	Liuliang was the man's name, then—Lü Liuliang. His family had lived for generations in Chongde, a prefecture in the Hangzhou district of Zhejiang Province. Like Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu, to whom you have just been introduced, he is an historical personage, famous among those Southern gentlemen who, during the last days of the Ming dynasty and the early days of the Manchu conquest, buried themselves away on their estates and refused to take part in public life.
他眼见黄顾二人脸色凝重，又知顾炎武向来极富机变，临事镇定，既说是要紧事，自然非同小可， 拱手道：“两位请进去先喝三杯，解解寒气。”	Lü Liuliang observed the grave expression on his visitors' faces. Knowing of old how unfailingly Gu Yanwu's political judgement was to be trusted, he realized that what the latter had referred to as 'something serious' must be very serious indeed. He clasped his hands and bowed to his guest politely. 'Come inside,' he said. 'Drink a few cups of wine first, to warm yourselves up a bit.'
当下请二人进屋，吩咐那小孩道：“葆中，去跟娘说，黄伯伯、顾伯伯到了，先切两盘羊膏来下酒。”	As he ushered them into the study, he gave an order to the boy. 'Baozhong, tell your mother that Uncle Huang and Uncle Gu are here. Ask her to slice a couple of platefuls of that goat's meat pate to go with our wine.'
不多时，那小孩吕葆中和兄弟毅中搬出三副杯筷，布在书房桌上。	In a minute or two the boy came in again, accompanied by his younger brother. They were carrying three sets of chopsticks and wine-cups which they laid on the study table.
一名老仆奉上酒菜。	An old servant followed them carrying a wine-kettle and balancing some plates of cold meat.
吕留良待三人退出，关上了书房门，说道：“黄兄，顾兄，先喝三杯！”	Lü Liuliang waited until the two boys and the servant were outside the room and closed the study door. 'Come, my friends, ' he said. 'Wine first.'
黄宗羲神色惨淡，摇了摇头。 顾炎武却自斟自饮，一口气连干了六七杯。	Huang Zongxi declined gloomily with a brief shake of the head; but Gu Yanwu, helping himself unceremoniously from the wine-kettle, downed half a dozen of the tiny cupfuls in quick succession.
吕留良道：“二位此来，可是和‘明史’一案有关吗？”	'I suppose your visit has something to do with this Ming History business,' said Lü Liuliang.
黄宗羲道：“正是。”	'Precisely, ' said Huang Zongxi.
顾炎武举起酒杯，高声吟道：	Gu Yanwu raised his wine-cup and, in ringing tones, recited the following couplet:
“‘清风虽细难吹我，明月何尝不照人？’	The cool wind sways not me, howe'er it blow; For me the bright moon still shines everywhere.
晚村兄，你这两句诗，真是绝唱！	'That's a splendid couplet of yours, Liuliang, ' he said.
我每逢饮酒，必诵此诗，必浮大白。”	'Whenever I drink wine now, I have to recite it—and do it justice, too,' he added, with a ceremonious flourish of his wine-cup.
吕留良心怀故国，不肯在清朝做官。 当地大吏仰慕他声名，保荐他为“山林隐逸”，应征赴朝为官，吕留良誓死相拒，大吏不敢再逼。	In spite of Lü Liuliang's patriotic unwillingness to serve, a local official, impressed by what he had heard of Lü's reputation, had once sought to recommend him as a 'hidden talent' meriting a summons to the Manchu Court for suitable employment; but Lü had made it clear that he would die rather than accept such a tones, recited summons, and the matter had been dropped.
后来又有一名大官保荐他为“博学鸿儒”，吕留良眼见若再相拒，显是轻侮朝廷，不免有杀身之祸，于是削发为僧，做了假和尚。 地方官员见他意坚，从此不再劝他出山。	Some time later, however, when another high-ranking official sent forward his name as a 'distinguished scholar of exceptional merit', Lü realized that his continued refusal would be construed by the Court as an open slight, with fatal consequences for himself and perhaps his family. Accordingly he had had himself tonsured (though not in fact with any intention of becoming a real monk), whereupon the Government officials were finally convinced of his determination and ceased urging him to come out of his retirement.
“清风、明月”这两句诗，讥刺满清，怀念前明， 虽然不敢刊行，但在志同道合的朋辈之间传诵已遍，此刻顾炎武又读了出来。 黄宗羲道：“真是好诗！” 举起酒杯，也喝了一杯。	Gu Yanwu's enthusiasm for Lü's somewhat pedestrian couplet sprang from the fact that it contained a hidden message. In Chinese the word for 'cool' is qing (the word chosen by the Manchus for their new 'Chinese' dynasty) and the word for 'bright' is ming (the name of the old Chinese dynasty they had supplanted). So the couplet Gu had recited could be understood to mean: The Qing wind sways not me, howe'er it blow; For me the Ming moon still shines everywhere. In other words, 'I will never bow to the Manchus, however they may threaten and cajole. For me the Empire is still the Ming Empire, whose loyal subject I remain.' Although the poem in which these lines occurred could not be published, they were familiar to all the like-minded scholars of Lü's wide acquaintance, and Huang, hearing them recited now by Gu, responded to the challenge by raising a wine-cup in homage. 'Yes, it is a very good poem,' he said, and drained it off at a gulp.
吕留良道：“两位谬赞了。”	'Thank you both, but it doesn't deserve your praise,' said Lü Liuliang.
顾炎武一抬头，见到壁上挂着一幅高约五尺，宽约丈许的大画，绘的是一大片山水，笔势纵横，气象雄伟，不禁喝了声采，画上只题了四个大字：“如此江山”， 说道：“看这笔路，当是二瞻先生的丹青了。”	Chancing to glance upwards at that moment, Gu Yanwu found his attention caught by a large painting which was hanging on one of the walls. It must have measured near enough four feet from top to bottom and well over three yards horizontally. It was a landscape, so magnificently conceived and boldly executed that he could not forbear a cry of admiration. The sole inscription on this enormous painting was the phrase 'This Lovely Land' written in very large characters at the top. 'From the brushwork I should say this must be Erzhan's work,' he said.
留良道：“正是。”	'You are absolutely right,' said Lü.
那“二瞻”姓查，名士标，是明末清初的一位大画家，也和顾黄吕诸人交好。	This Erzhan's real name was Zha Shibiao. He was a well-known painter in the late Ming, early Manchu period and a good friend of the three men present.
黄宗羲道：“这等好画，如何却无题跋？”	'How is it that so fine a painting lacks a signature?' said Huang.
吕留良叹道：“二瞻先生此画，颇有深意。	Lü sighed. The painting had a message, ' he said.
只是他为人稳重谨慎，既不落款，亦无题跋。	'But you know what a stolid, careful person Erzhan is. He wouldn't sign it and he wouldn't write any inscription.
他上个月在舍间盘桓，一时兴到，画送了我，两位便题上几句如何？”	He painted it for me on a sudden impulse when he was staying with me a month or so ago. Why don't you two write a few lines on it?'
顾黄二人站起身来，走到画前仔细观看，只见大江浩浩东流，两岸峰峦无数，点缀着奇松怪石，只是画中云气弥漫，山川虽美，却令人一见之下，胸臆间顿生郁积之气。	Gu and Huang got up and went over to examine the painting more closely. It was a picture of the Yangtze, the Great River, rolling majestically eastwards between innumerable peaks, with a suitable garnishing of gnarled pines and strange misshapen rocks: a very beautiful landscape were it not for the all-pervading mist and cloud which seemed calculated to create an oppressive feeling of gloom in anyone looking at it.
顾炎武道：“如此江山，沦于夷狄。	'This lovely land under the heel of the barbarian!' said Gu Yanwu.
我辈忍气吞声，偷生其间，实令人悲愤填膺。	'And we have to swallow our humiliation and go on living in it. It makes my blood boil.
晚村兄何不便题诗一首，将二瞻先生之意，表而出之？”	Why don't you do an inscription, Liuliang — a poem that will give voice to what Erzhan had in mind to say?'
吕留良道：“好！” 当即取下画来，平铺于桌。 黄宗羲研起了墨。	'Very well,' said Lü Liuliang, and he took the huge scroll carefully down from the wall and spread it out on the desk, while Huang Zongxi set about grinding him some ink.
吕留良提笔沉吟半晌，便在画上振笔直书。 顷刻诗成，诗云：	He picked up a writing-brush and for some minutes could be observed muttering to himself in the throes of composition; then, writing straight on to the painting and with pauses only for moistening the brush, he quickly completed the following poem:
“ 其为宋之南渡耶？ 如此江山真可耻。	Is this the same of Great Song's south retreat, This lovely land that hides its face in shame?
其为崖山以后耶？ 如此江山不忍视。	Or is it after Mount Yai's fateful leap? This lovely land then scarce dared breathe its name.
吾今始悟作画意， 痛哭流涕有若是。	Now that I seem to read the painter's mind, My bitter teardrops match his drizzling rain.
以今视昔昔犹今， 吞声不用枚衔嘴。	Past woes I see reborn in present time: This draws the groans that no gag can restrain.
画将皋羽西台泪， 研入丹青提笔泚。	Methinks the painter used poor Gaoyu's tears To mix his colours and his brush to wet.
所以有画无诗文， 诗文尽在四字里。	'This Lovely Land' was commentary enough; No need was there for other words to fret.
尝谓生逢洪武初，如瞽忽瞳跛可履。	The blind would see, the lame would walk again, Could we but bring, back Hong Wu's glorious days.
山川开霁故璧完，何处登临不狂喜？”	With what wild joy we'd look down from each height And see the landscape free of mist and haze!
书完，掷笔于地，不禁泪下。	He threw the brush on the floor as he finished and burst into tears.
顾炎武道：“痛快淋漓，真是绝妙好辞。”	'It says all there is to say, ' said Gu Yanwu. 'Masterly!'
吕留良道：“这诗殊无含蓄，算不得好，也只是将二瞻先生之原意写了出来，好教观画之人得知。”	'It lacks subtlety, ' said Lü. 'In no way could you call it a good poem. I merely wanted to put Erzhan's original idea into writing so that anyone looking at the picture in days to come will know what it is about.'
黄宗羲道：“何日故国重光，那时‘山川开霁故璧完’，纵然穷山恶水，也令人观之大畅胸怀，真所谓‘何处登临不狂喜’ 了！”	'When China does eventually emerge from this time of darkness, ' said Huang, 'we shall indeed "see the landscape free of mist and haze". When that time comes, we shall gaze at even the poorest, meanest, most barren landscape with a feeling of joyful liberation. Then, indeed, we shall look down with "wild joy . . . from each height"!'
顾炎武道：“此诗结得甚妙！	'Your conclusion is excellent, ' said Gu.
终有一日驱除胡虏，还我大汉河山，比之徒抒悲愤，更加令人气壮。”	'When we do eventually rid our country of this foreign scum, the feeling of relief will be infinitely greater than the somewhat arid satisfaction we get from occasionally uncorking our feelings as we do now.'
黄宗羲慢慢将画卷了起来，说道：“这画是挂不得了，晚村兄得须妥为收藏才是。	Huang carefully rolled up the painting. 'You won't be able to hang this up any more now, Liuliang, ' he said. 'You'd better put it away somewhere safe.
倘若给吴之荣之类的奸人见到，官府查究起来，晚村兄固然麻烦，还牵连了二瞻先生。”	If some evil-intentioned person like Wu Zhirong were to set eyes on it, you'd soon have the authorities round asking questions and the consequences could be serious not only for you but probably for Erzhan as well.'
顾炎武拍桌骂道：“吴之荣这狗贼，我真恨不得生食其肉。”	That vermin Wu Zhirong!' said Gu Yanwu, smiting the desk with his hand. 'I could willingly tear his flesh with my teeth!'
吕留良道：“二位枉顾，说道有件要紧事。 我辈书生积习，作诗题画，却搁下了正事。	'You said when you came that you had something serious to discuss with me, ' said Lü, 'yet here we are, like typical scholars, frittering our time away on poetry and painting instead of attending to business.
不知究竟如何？”	What was it, exactly, that brought you here?'
黄宗羲道：“我二人来此，乃是为了二瞻先生的那位本家伊璜先生。	'It has to do with Erzhan's kinsman Yihuang, ' said Huang.
小弟和顾兄前日得到讯息，原来这场‘明史’大案，竟将伊璜先生也牵连在内。”	The day before yesterday Gu and I learned that he has now been named in connection with the Ming History affair.'
吕留良惊道：“伊璜兄也受了牵连？”	'Yihuang?' said Lü. 'You mean he's been dragged into it too?'
黄宗羲道：“是啊。	'I'm afraid so, ' said Huang.
我二人前日晚上匆匆赶到海宁袁花镇，伊璜先生并不在家，说是出外访友去了。	'As soon as we heard, the two of us hurried as quickly as we could to his home in Yuanhua Town, but he wasn't there. They said he'd gone off to visit a friend.
炎武兄眼见事势紧急，忙瞩伊璜先生家人连夜躲避；想起伊璜先生和晚村兄交好，特来探访。”	In view of the urgency, Yanwu advised the family to make their getaway as soon as it was dark. Then, remembering that Yihuang was a good friend of yours, we thought we'd come and look for him here, '
吕留良道：“他…… 他却没有来。	'No, ' said Lü, 'no, he's not here.
不知到了何处。”	I don't know where he can have gone.'
顾炎武道：“他如在府上，这会儿自已出来相见。	'If he had been here, he would have shown himself by now, ' said Gu.
我已在他的书房的墙壁上提诗一首，他若归家，自然明白，知所趋避，怕的是不知讯息，在外露面，给公人拿住，那可糟了。”	'I left a poem for him on his study wall. If he goes back home, he will understand when he reads the poem that he is to go and hide. What I'm afraid of, though, is that he may not have heard the news yet and may expose himself unnecessarily outside and get himself arrested. That would be terrible, '
黄宗羲道：“这‘明史’一案，令我浙西名士几乎尽遭毒手。	'Practically every scholar in West Zhejiang has fallen victim to this wretched Ming History business,' said Huang.
清廷之意甚恶，晚村兄名头太大，亭林兄和小弟之意，要劝晚村兄暂且离家远游，避一避风头。”	'The Manchu Court has obviously got it in for us. You are too well known. Gu and I both think that you ought to leave here — for the time being, at any rate. Find somewhere away from here where you can shelter from the storm, '
吕留良气愤道：“清廷皇帝倘若将我捉到北京，拼着千刀万剐，好歹也要痛骂他一场，出了胸中这口恶气，才痛痛快快的就死。”	Lü Liuliang looked angry. 'Let the Tartar Emperor have me arrested and carried off to Peking!' he said. 'If I could curse him to his face and get rid of some of the anger that is pent up inside me, I think I should die happy, even though it meant having the flesh cut slice by slice from my bones!'
顾炎武道：“晚村兄豪气干云，令人好生敬佩。 怕的是见不到鞑子皇帝，却死于一般的下贱奴才手里。	'I admire your heroic spirit,' said Gu, 'but I don't think there's much likelihood of your meeting the Tartar Emperor face to face. You would die at the hands of miserable slaves.
再说，鞑子皇帝只是个小孩子，什么也不懂，朝政大权，尽操于权臣鳌拜之手。	Besides, the Tartar Emperor is still a child who knows nothing about anything. The Government is in the hands of the all-powerful minister Oboi.
兄弟和梨洲兄推想，这次‘明史’一案所以如此大张旗鼓，雷厉风行，当是鳌拜意欲挫折我江南士人之气。”	Huang and I are both of the opinion that Oboi is at the back of this Ming History affair. The reason they are making such a song and dance about it and pursuing it with such ferocity is that he sees in it a means of breaking the spirit of the Southern gentry.'
吕留良道：“两位所见甚是。	'I'm sure you are right,' said Lü.
清兵入关以来，在江北横行无阻，一到江南，却处处遇到反抗，尤其读书人知道华夷之防，不断跟他们捣乱。	'When the Manchu troops first came inside the Wall, they had pretty much of a free run in the whole of Northern China. It wasn't till they came south that they found themselves running into resistance everywhere. The scholars in particular, as guardians of Chinese culture, have given them endless trouble.
鳌拜乘此机会，对我江南士子大加镇压。	So Oboi is using this business to crush the Southern gentry, is he?
哼，野火烧不尽，春风吹又生，除非他把咱们江南读书人杀得干干净净。”	Humph! What does the poet say? The bush fire cannot burn them out. For next year's spring will see them sprout. —Unless, that is, he plans to wipe out the lot of us!'
黄宗羲道：“是啊。	'Quite,' said Huang.
因此咱们要留着有用之身，和鞑子周旋到底，倘若逞了一时血气之勇，反是堕入鞑子的算中了。”	'If we are to carry on the struggle against the Tartars, we need anyone who can be of use to stay alive. Indulging in heroics at this juncture might be satisfying, but would be merely falling into their trap.'
吕留良登时省悟，黄顾二人冒寒枉顾，一来固是寻觅查伊璜，二来是劝自己出避，生怕自己一时按奈不住，枉自送了性命，良友苦心，实深感激，说道：“二位金石良言，兄弟那敢不遵？	Lü suddenly understood. It was not only to look for Zha Yihuang that his friends had made their journey to him in the bitter cold. They had come because they wanted to persuade him to escape. They knew how impetuous he was and were afraid that he might throw his life away to no purpose. This was true friendship and he felt grateful for it. 'You give me such good advice, ' he said, 'I can hardly refuse to follow it.
	All right, then.
明日一早，兄弟全家便出去避一避。”	I'll leave with the family first thing tomorrow.'
顾黄二人大喜，齐声道：“自该如此。” 吕留良沉吟道：“却不知避向何处才好？”	Huang and Gu were visibly delighted and chorused their approval of his decision, but Lü looked uncertain. 'But where can we go?'
只觉天涯茫茫，到处是鞑子的天下，真无一片干净土地，沉吟道：“桃源何处，可避暴秦？	The whole world belonged to the Tartars now, it seemed. Not a single patch of land was free of their hated presence. He thought of the poet Tao Yuanming's story about the fisherman who, by following a stream that flowed between flowering peach trees, had stumbled on an earthly paradise—a place where refugees from ancient tyranny had found a haven.
桃源何处，可避暴秦？”	'Ah, Peach Tree Stream,' he murmured, 'if I could but find you!'
顾炎武道：“当今之世，便真有桃源乐土，咱们也不能独善其身，去躲了起来……”	'Come,' said Gu, 'even if there were such a place, we cannot, as individuals, opt out altogether. In times like these—'
吕留良不等他辞毕，拍案而起，大声道：“亭林兄此言责备得是。	Before he could finish, Lü struck the desk with his hand and jumped to his feet, loudly disclaiming his own weakness, 'You do right to rebuke me, Yanwu.
国家兴亡，匹夫有责，暂时避祸则可，但若去躲在桃花源里，逍遥自在，忍令亿万百姓在鞑子铁蹄下受苦，于心何安？	The citizen of a conquered country still has his duty. It's all very well to take temporary refuge, but to live a life of ease in some Peach Tree Haven while millions are suffering under the iron heel of the Tartars would be less than human.
兄弟失言了。”	I spoke without thinking.'
顾炎武微笑道：“兄弟近年浪迹江湖，着实结交了不少朋友。	Gu Yanwu smiled. 'I've knocked about a great deal during these last few years,' he said, 'and made friends with an extraordinary variety of people.
大江南北，见闻所及，不但读书人反对鞑子，而贩夫走卒、屠沽市井之中，也到处有热血满腔的豪杰。	And wherever I've been, north or south of the River, I've discovered that it isn't only among educated people like ourselves that resistance to the Tartars is to be found. Many of our most ardent patriots are small tradesmen, Yamen runners, or market folk—people belonging to the very lowest ranks of society.
晚村兄要是有意，咱三人结伴同去扬州，兄弟给你引见几位同道中人如何？”	If you'd care to join us, the three of us could travel to Yangzhou together. I have a number of contacts there I could introduce you to. What do you think?'
吕留良大喜，道：“妙极，妙极！	'But that would be wonderful,' said Lü Liuliang delightedly.
咱们明日便去扬州，二位少坐，兄弟去告知拙荆，让她收拾收拾。”	'We leave for Yangzhou tomorrow, then. If the two of you will just sit here for a moment, I'll go and tell my wife to start getting things ready.'
说着匆匆入内。 不多时吕留良回到书房，说道：“‘明史’一案，外间虽传说纷纷，但一来传闻未必确实，二来说话之人又顾忌甚多，不敢尽言。	He hurried off to the inner quarters, but was back in the study again after only a few minutes. 'About this Ming History business,' he said. 'I've heard a good deal of talk about it outside, but you can't believe everything people say; and in any case they conceal a lot of what they do know out of fear.
兄弟独处蜗居，未知其详，到底是何起因？”	I'm so isolated here, I have no means of finding out the truth. Tell me, how did it all begin?'
顾炎武叹了口气，道：“这部明史，咱们大家都是看过的了，其中对鞑子不大恭敬，那也是有的。	Gu Yanwu sighed. 'We've all seen this Ming History. There are, inevitably, passages in it which are not very complimentary to the Tartars.
此书本是出于我大明朱国桢相国之手，说到关外建州卫之事，又如何会对鞑子客气？”	It was written by Zhu Guozhen, who, as you know, was a former Chancellor at the Ming Court. When he came to write about the "antics of the Paramount Chief of the Jianzhou tribe", which is how the Ming Court used to refer to the Tartars, it's a bit hard to see how he could have been polite.'
吕留良点头道：“听说湖州庄家花了几千两银子，从朱相国后人手中将明史原稿买了来，以己名刊行，不想竟然酿此大祸。”	Lü nodded: 'I heard somewhere that a member of the Zhuang family of Huzhou paid one of Chancellor Zhu's heirs a thousand taels of silver for the manuscript and published it under his own name— never dreaming, of course, that it would lead to such terrible consequences.'
顾炎武道：“此中详情，兄弟倒曾打听明白。”	
于是将“明史案”的前因后果，原本说出来。	Gu went on to tell him the whole story.