This was the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was demoted to prefecture chief of Baling in spring. In the following year, the country was politically stable, and people lived in peace and harmony; everything neglected was in prosperity again. In the meanwhile, people rebuilt and enlarged Yueyang Tower, with poems and proses of Tang and contemporary scholars newly carved into it, and I was bid to record this event.

慶歷四年春，滕子京謫(zhé)守巴陵郡。越明年，政通人和，百廢具興。乃重修岳陽樓，增其舊制，刻唐賢今人詩賦于其上。屬（zhǔ）予(yú)作文以記之。

When I was there, I found the gorgeous beauty of Baling lies in Dongting Lake. All the far away mountains are reflected in it, and the Yangtze River seems being swallowed when passing by. So large the lake is, with its water enraging up and down, stretching to the far end of the skyline. A sunny morning can turn into a cloudy night, and various sceneries under different weather conditions can be enjoyed in a single day. This is the most splendid beauty seen on Yueyang Tower, which have been minutely recorded by previous scholars. To the north, it reaches the Wu Gorge; down the south, it approaches Xiao and Xiang River, poets and officials demoted to remote places usually meet here, and can their feelings stirred up by the sublime lake be different?

予觀夫（fú）巴陵勝狀，在洞庭一湖。銜遠山，吞長江，浩浩湯湯(shāng），橫無際涯；朝暉夕陰，氣象萬千。此則岳陽樓之大觀也，前人之述備矣。然則北通巫峽，南極瀟湘，遷客騷人，多會于此。覽物之情，得無異乎？ 
         In drizzling days, it usually lasts for months; raw winds roaring across the lake, thick surfs soaring up to the sky when striking onto the bank; lights shed by    stars hide behind continuous mountains; merchants and travellers balked by it when getting there, and masts down to the floors, oars broken into pieces; at sunset, only tiger roaring and monkey crying can be heard in unknown places. When stepping onto the Tower, things in the capital turn into memories, and homesickness evoked by the sceneries. Worried and apprehended by possible slanders and satire back in the court, feelings of sadness and regrets are inevitable before this gloomy and bleak landscape.
         若夫（fú）霪(yín)雨霏霏，連月不開；陰風(fēng)怒號(háo)，濁浪排空；日星隱曜(yào；同“耀”)，山岳潛形；商旅不行，檣（qiáng）傾楫（jí）摧；薄(bó)暮冥冥，虎嘯猿啼。登斯樓  也，則有去國懷鄉(xiāng)，憂讒(chán)畏譏(jī)，滿目蕭然，感極而悲者矣。 
         In warm spring days, no enraging surfs can be seen, and the still lake surface blends sunlight from the sky and sunlight reflected from the mirror-like water. The whole lake looks like a green cloth, stretching millions of kilometers away. Sandpipers gather on the sands, flying and stopping now and again; Fish glisten in shallow waters, happily wandering to and fro; on the little sands, bright green orchids prosper under the sunlight, with mellow fragrance pervading under the breezes. Sometimes at night, thick fogs completely lifted, and bright and soft moonlight sheds onto the whole surroundings, with golden colors reflected by light on waters. The moon-shadow in the lake resembles sinking jade, songs by fishermen resonating all over the water, how can there ever be an end to all these pleasures! 
        On the Tower, ease and gay can be felt, mind can be broadened, and sense of glory and shame can be forgotten. Under refreshing breezes, picking up goblets, drinking to extremes, how can we find other more pleasant moments? 
         至若春和景明，波瀾不驚，上下天光，一碧萬頃；沙鷗翔集，錦鱗游泳，岸芷(zhǐ）汀（tīng）蘭，郁郁青青（qīng)。而或長煙一空，皓月千里，浮光躍金，靜影沉璧；漁歌互答，此樂何極！登斯樓也，則有心曠神怡，寵辱偕忘，把酒臨風(fēng)，其喜洋洋者矣。 
        Alas! I once explored the feelings and emotions of saints in old times, and their feelings maybe different from what I have stated above. Why? Because they were not affected by this external world, whether it is good or bad, and they were not affected whether they gain or lose. When serving the court, worries are for common people; when demoted to remote places, worries are for the Emperor. Whether or not serving the court, worries always exist. Then how can they ever be happy? It will surely be thus replied, “Worry about the State before the people, and enjoy comforts after the people.”
         嗟(jié)夫（fū）！予(yǔ)嘗求古仁人之心，或異二者之為，何哉（zāi)？　不以物喜，不以己悲；居廟堂之高則憂其民；處（chǔ）江湖之遠則憂其君。是進亦憂，退亦憂。然則何時而樂（yé）？其必曰：“先天下之憂而憂，后天下之樂而樂”乎。
Alas, if no such kind of people can ever be found, with whom will I continue my cause?

噫（yī）！微斯人， 吾誰與歸？
Written in the sixth year of Qingli, Sep.15 
時六年九月十五日。