Yuelu returns to the mountain with this letter. Your disciple Xi Huai, burdened with deep guilt, scarcely know…
Yuelu returns to the mountain with this letter. Your disciple Xi Huai, burdened with deep guilt, scarcely knows where to begin.
To ensure that the maps she drew were exact and complete, my master, Feng Xu, never shrank from danger, but crossed the steep ridges and perilous ravines of the Taihang in person. That day the wind rose hard, and toward the third watch rain came suddenly in the night. Yet my master still had not returned from the mountain, so I went out into the storm to search for her. Only at daybreak, following the tracks left in the mud, did I reach the edge of a cliff. There I found the marks of a slip, and at last understood that my master had lost her footing and fallen down the mountainside. The cliff was sheer and treacherous, with no way down. I could search no farther.
Afterward, on my master's desk, I found a half-written manuscript. It broke off midway, as though some doubt had arisen in her mind. I believe she meant to verify a point or two before setting out, and in her haste climbed the mountain that very night, only to meet this calamity.
My master's sudden death is a grief I cannot lay down. The affairs of this world are ever uncertain. By what justice does Heaven ordain such things? Only this much is certain: the work my master left unfinished, I shall carry on even at the cost of my life.
After my master's death, Yuelu fell gravely ill. This too was my failure in caring for her.
After many difficulties, and with Master Raven's help, I have at last sent Yuelu back to the mountain. In its quiet peace, she will surely grow up safe and well there. I also hope she may keep the two of you company, and bring some comfort in your later years.
I bow my head and beg forgiveness. Your disciple was not equal to the charge of keeping my master safe. The kindness shown me by Mohist Hill and the academy alike is something I shall never forget. When the book is finished, I will present it, together with all that I have gained, to Mohist Hill, as a small token of my heart.
With another respectful bow.