杨叔贤郎中异，眉州人，言顷有太守初视事，人排乐。乐人口号云：“为报吏民段庆贺，灾星移去福星来！”守大喜，问口号谁撰，优人答曰：“本州自来旧例，止此一首。”
——《湘山野录》
Old
Custom
A
newly-appointed prefect was giving a grand banquet for the local gentry with
many musicians to entertain the party. In the midst of the revelry, a singer
intoned: “Out with the old, in with the new; out with the evil star, in with
the lucky star!” The
prefect was highly flattered. “Who
composed that?” he asked. “It
is an old custom in our town to sing this when a new prefect arrives. It is the
only couplet I know,” replied the singer.
Xiang
Shan Ye Lu
（杨宪益、戴乃迭 译） |
/1 
