《南史·列传·卷六十》
徐勉的二儿子徐悱去世，徐勉极为悲痛，他又不愿意长时间耽误国事，便写了一篇《答客》文来自我宽慰。
第二子悱卒，痛悼甚至，不欲久废王务，乃爲答客以自喻焉。
Xu Mian's second son, Xu Fei, passed away. Xu Mian was extremely heartbroken, but he also didn't want to neglect his duties for long, so he wrote the "Answering a Guest" essay to comfort himself.