《人间词话》英译（一百）

宋人小说，多不足信。如《雪舟脞语》谓：台州知府唐仲友眷官妓严蕊奴。朱晦庵系治之。及晦庵移去，提刑岳霖行部至台，蕊乞自便。岳问曰：去将安归？蕊赋《卜算子》词云：“住也如何住”云云。案此词系仲友戚高宣教作，使蕊歌以侑觞者，见朱子《纠唐仲友奏牍》。则《齐东野语》所纪朱、唐公案，恐亦未可信也。

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Anecdotes recorded by Sung writers are not very reliable. For example, the Hsueh chou ts’o-yu (Bits of conversation from the snowy boat) says:

The prefect of T’aichou, T’ang Chung-yu, was on intimate terms with a licensed sighing girl, Yen Jui-nu. [When Chu Hsi examined into matters in T’aichou] he put her in jail. After Chu His was shifted elsewhere, the circuit judicial intendant, Yueh Lin, in making his rounds, arrived at T’aichou. Jui pleaded for her own freedom, but Yueh asked, ‘But if you leave, to what place will you go?’ Whereupon Jui composed the tz’u to the tune of ‘Pu suan tzu’, ‘To stay, but how can I stay?’ etc., etc.

Now actually this tz’u was written by T’ang Chung-yu’s relative, Kao Hsuan-chiao, and Jui was ordered to sing it to entertain the guests at a drinking party. For proof of this see Chu Hsi’s memorials indicting T’ang Chuang-yu. I also doubt whether the Chu-T’ang case as recorded in the Ch’i tung yeh-yu (Tales from Eastern Ch’i) is reliable either.