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將軍魏武之子孫， 於今為庶為青門；
英雄割據雖已矣！ 文采風流今尚存。
學書初學衛夫人， 但恨無過王右軍。
丹青不知老將至， 富貴於我如浮雲。
開元之中常引見， 承恩數上南熏殿，
凌煙功臣少顏色， 將軍下筆開生面。
良相頭上進賢冠， 猛將腰間大羽箭。
褒公鄂公毛髮動， 英姿颯爽猶酣戰。
先帝天馬玉花驄， 畫工如山貌不同。
是日牽來赤墀下， 迥立閶闔生長風。
詔謂將軍拂絹素， 意匠慘淡經營中；
斯須九重真龍出， 一洗萬古凡馬空。
玉花卻在御榻上， 榻上庭前屹相向；
至尊含笑催賜金， 圉人太僕皆惆悵，
弟子韓幹早入室， 亦能畫馬窮殊相；
幹惟畫肉不畫骨， 忍使驊騮氣凋喪。
將軍畫善蓋有神， 偶逢佳士亦寫真；
即今漂泊干戈際， 屢貌尋常行路人。

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塗

窮反遭俗眼白， 世上未有如公貧；
但看古來盛名下， 終日坎壈纏其身。

O General, descended from Wei's Emperor Wu,
You are nobler now than when a noble....
Conquerors and their valour perish,
But masters of beauty live forever.
...With your brush-work learned from Lady Wei
And second only to Wang Xizhi's,
Faithful to your art, you know no age,
Letting wealth and fame drift by like clouds.
...In the years of Kaiyuan you were much with the Emperor,
Accompanied him often to the Court of the South Wind.
When the spirit left great statesmen, on walls of the Hall of Fame
The point of your brush preserved their living faces.
You crowned all the premiers with coronets of office;
You fitted all commanders with arrows at their girdles;
You made the founders of this dynasty, with every hair alive,
Seem to be just back from the fierceness of a battle.
...The late Emperor had a horse, known as Jade Flower,
Whom artists had copied in various poses.
They led him one day to the red marble stairs
With his eyes toward the palace in the deepening air.
Then, General, commanded to proceed with your work,
You centred all your being on a piece of silk.
And later, when your dragon-horse, born of the sky,
Had banished earthly horses for ten thousand generations,
There was one Jade Flower standing on the dais
And another by the steps, and they marvelled at each other....
The Emperor rewarded you with smiles and with gifts,
While officers and men of the stud hung about and stared.
...Han Gan, your follower, has likewise grown proficient
At representing horses in all their attitudes;
But picturing the flesh, he fails to draw the bone -
So that even the finest are deprived of their spirit.
You, beyond the mere skill, used your art divinely -
And expressed, not only horses, but the life of a good man....
Yet here you are, wandering in a world of disorder
And sketching from time to time some petty passerby
People note your case with the whites of their eyes.
There's nobody purer, there's nobody poorer.
...Read in the records, from earliest times,
How hard it is to be a great artist.