王铎借帖 wang duo borrows model letters

清朝初年在河南孟津，有一个很有名的书法家，名字叫 [[ Wang Duo 王铎 ]]【dúo】。由于他写的一手好字，人们又叫他“神笔王铎”。

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, in a place called Meng Jin, Henan Province, There was a famous calligrapher by the name of Wang Duo. His calligraphy was so good, that people called him “god’s brush”, shén bǐ wáng dúo.

王铎对古人的字帖，只要能得到的每帖必学。在学的过程中鉴别真伪、汲取精华。对那些好字帖，他每天都要翻看。有些字帖实在买不到，他就想法借来临摹。

When it came to model letters by famous calligraphers of the past, Wang Duo would study anything he could get his hands on. As he studied he learnt to tell originals from forgeries, absorbing all the knowledge he could. Every day he’d flip through his favourites. If he heard of some model letters that he couldn’t obtain by purchase, he’d think of a way to borrow them.

有一次，他向一个朋友借来了《 [[ 兰亭序 ]]》、《 [[ 米襄阳 ]]》等有名字帖，一共四十多册。为了能按期归还，他整天整夜地临摹起来，连写了好几天。

Once he borrowed some famous samples of calligraphy from a friend, including a copy of the “Orchid Pavilion” and “Mi Xiangyang”, around 40 volumes in total. In order to return them on the date agreed, he worked for days on end, poring over each volume day and night, making copies for himself.

写到最后几页的时候身体实在是支撑不住了，眼前一黑昏倒在书房里。幸好这时候他的妻子来了，才把他救醒过来。

Finishing the last few pages, his mind was willing but his body would endure no longer. The world wend dark and he collapsed on the floor of his study. Luckily, his wife found him and managed to wake him up.

他歇了一会儿，又要下床去继续抄写字帖。妻子赶紧拦住了他，着急的说：“等把身子养好了再抄不迟，都快六十岁的人了，还这样性急。”

After he had rested a while, he wanted to continue writing. Frantically, his wife stood in his way: “You need to rest up properly before you continue writing. You’re almost 60 years old, what’s the big rush?”

王铎郑重的解释说：“不是我性急，而是我答应还字帖的日期就要到了，如果不守信用，以后再借字帖就难了。”

Wang Dou offered a solemn explanation: “I’m not in a rush, but the date I promised to return the volumes is coming. If I don’t keep my promise, how will people feel about lending me volumes of model letters in the future?”

说完，王铎挣扎着爬起来，又到书房抄写去了。

With that, Wang Duo scrambled out of bed and continued working in his study.

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