Listen to this article《祭石曼卿文》为唐宋八大家之一欧阳修所作。是作者为悼念诗友石曼卿而作的一篇祭文。作者避免了一般祭文的呆板格式，内容不是为死者作平生概括，而是通过三呼曼卿，先称赞其声名不朽，再写其死后凄凉，特别是渲染墓地的悲凉景象，表达出作者对死者强烈的哀悼之情。文章大体押韵，句式灵活，情调凄婉，体现出作者真挚的感情。
欧阳修·《祭石曼卿文》
[维治平四年七月日，具官欧阳修，谨遣尚书都省令史李敭至于太清，以清酌庶羞之奠，致祭于亡友曼卿之墓下，而吊之以文曰：]
呜呼曼卿！生而为英，死而为灵。其同乎万物生死，而复归于无物者，暂聚之形；不与万物共尽，而卓然其不朽者，后世之名。此自古圣贤，莫不皆然。而著在简册者，昭如日星。
呜呼曼卿！吾不见子久矣，犹能仿佛子之平生。其轩昂磊落，突兀峥嵘，而埋藏于地下者，意其不化为朽壤，而为金玉之精。不然，生长松之千尺，产灵芝而九茎。奈何荒烟野蔓，荆棘纵横，风凄露下，走磷飞萤；但见牧童樵叟，歌吟而上下，与夫惊禽骇兽，悲鸣踯躅而咿嘤！今固如此，更千秋而万岁兮，安知其不穴藏狐貉与鼯鼪？此自古圣贤亦皆然兮，独不见夫累累乎旷野与荒城！
呜呼曼卿！盛衰之理，吾固知其如此，而感念畴昔，悲凉凄怆，不觉临风而陨涕者，有愧乎太上之忘情。尚飨！
At a Grave
Ou-yang Hsiu
O Man-ch’ing, thy birth gave a hero, thy death a God! Like the vulgar herd thou wast born and didst die, returning to the domain of nothingness. But thy earthly form could not perish like theirs. There was that within which could not decay: thy bright memory will endure through all generations. For such is the lot of the wise and good: their names are inscribed imperishably, to shine like the stars for ever.
O Man-ch’ing, ‘tis long since we met. Yet methinks I see thee now, as then, lofty of mien, courage upon thy brow. Ah! When the grave closed over thee, it was not into foul earth, but into the pure essence of gold and gems that thy dear form was changed. Or haply thou art some towering pine—some rare, some wondrous plant. What boots it now? Here in thy loneliness the spreading brambles weave around thy head, while the chill wind blows across thy bed moist with the dew of heaven. The will-o’-the-wisp and the firefly flit by: naught heard but the shepherd and the woodman singing songs on the hillside; naught seen but the startled bird rising, the affrighted beast scampering from their presence, as they pass to and fro and pour forth their plaintive lays. Such is thy solitude now. A thousand, ten thousand years hence, the fox and the badger will burrow into thy tomb, and the weasel make its nest within. For this also has ever been the lot of the wise and good. Do not their graves, scattered on every side, bear ample witness of this?
Alas! Man-ch’ing, I know full well that all things are overtaken, sooner or later, by decay. But musing over days bygone, my heart grows sad; and standing thus near to thy departed spirit, my tears flow afresh, and I blush for the heartlessness of God. O Man-ch’ing, rest in peace!
