愛 蓮 說Love of the Lotus

文/周敦頤 譯/顧韶陽

By Zhou Dunyi

水陸草木之花，可愛者甚蕃。晉陶淵明獨愛菊。自李唐來，世人甚愛牡丹。予獨愛蓮之出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖，中通外直，不蔓不枝，香遠益清，亭亭凈植，可遠觀而不可褻玩焉。予謂菊，花之隱逸者也；牡丹，花之富貴者也；蓮，花之君子者也。噫！菊之愛，陶后鮮有聞。蓮之愛，同予者何人？牡丹之愛，宜乎眾矣！ □

Loveworthy flowering plants on land and in water are in profusion,yet Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty loved nothing but the chrysanthemum.Ever since the Tang Dynasty, there has been a craze for the peony. As for me,the lotus is my favorite. It rises spotless out of the slimy mud; it stays subdued in the clear water. Its stems are hollow within and upright without, free from the entanglement of vines and twigs. Its delicate fragrance is wafted afar and, with its graceful erectness, it should more be observed at a deferential distance than be approached in a frivolous fashion. Personally, I think chrysanthemum is the flower of seclusion and solitude, peony the flower of wealth and rank and lotus the flower of purity and nobility. Alas! The love of the chrysanthemum since Tao Yuanming has rarely been heard of and the love of the lotus is echoed by none, isn’t it? However, the love of the peony is shared by the multitudes. ■