庄子《逍遥游》准确翻译

Chuang Tzu: Inner Chapters

Chapter One

Wandering in Absolute Freedom

In the North Sea there is a kind of fish by the name of kun, whose size covers thousands of li. The fish metamorphoses into a kind of bird by the name of peng, whose back cover thousands of li. When it rises in flight, its wings are like clouds that hang from the sky. When the wind blows over the sea, the peng moves to the South Sea, the Celestial Pond.

According to Qi Xie, a collection of mysterious stories, “On its journey to the South Sea, the peng flaps sprays for 3,000 li and soars to a height of 90,000 li at the windy time of June.” The air, the dusts and the microbes float in the sky at the breath of the wind. Does the sky display the blueness as its true colour? Or does it reach an unattainable distance? When the peng looks from above, it must have observed a similar sight.

If a mass of water is not deep enough, it will not be able to float large ships. When you pour a cup of water into a hole on the floor, a straw can sail on it as a boat, but a cup will get stuck in it for the water is too shallow and the vessel is too large. If the wind is not strong enough, it will not be able to bear large wings. Therefore, the peng must have a strong wind under it as its support so as to soar to a height of 90,000 li. Only then can it brave the blue sky and clear all obstacles on its southward journey.

A cicada and a turtle-dove derided the peng saying, “We fly upward until we alight on an elm or a sandal tree. Sometimes when we cannot make it, we just fall back to the ground. What?s the sense of soaring to a height of 90,000 li on your journey to the south?”

If you are going to the green suburbs, you only have to bring three meals and you will comeback with a full stomach. If you are going 100 li away, you have to grind enough grain for the overnight stay. If you are going 1,000 li away, you have to bring enough grain to last you three months. How could these two little creatures know about all this?

Little learning does not come up to great learning; the short-lived does not come up to the long-lived. How do we know

that this is the case? The fungi that sprout in the morning and die before evening do not know the alteration of night and day; cicadas do not know the alteration of spring and autumn. Those are cases of the short-lived. In the south of the state of Chu there is a miraculous tortoise, for whom each spring or autumn lasts 500 years; in the remote ages there was a huge toon tree, for which each spring and autumn lasted 8,000 years. Those are cases of the long-lived. But today, Pengzu, who lived over 700 years, is uniquely acknowledged for his longevity. Is it not lamentable that he is an object of envy to all! Tang, the first king of the Shang Dynasty, asked his minister Ji a similar question.

Tang asked Ji, “Are there limits up and down, east and west, north and south?”

Ji answered, “There are limits beyond limits. In the remote and barren north, there is a dark sea, the Celestial Pond, where lives a kind of fish by the name of kun, whose size covers thousands of li. There are also a kind of bird by the name of peng, whose back is like a lofty mountain and whose wings are like clouds that hang from the sky. Soaring like a whirlwind to a height for 90,00 li, the peng flies above the heavy clouds and against the blue sky on its southward journey toward the South Sea. A quail in the marsh laughed at the peng, saying, …Where does he think he?s going? I hop and skip and fly up, but I never fly up more than a dozen metres before I come down and hover above the reeds. That?s the highest I ever fly! And where does he think he?s going??”

Such is the difference between the small and the great.

For those who are intelligent enough to take a minor office, well-behaved enough to impress a district, virtuous enough to please a lord or talented enough to win the confidence of a state, their complacency is like that of the cicada, the turtle-dove or the quail. Song Rongzi is a philosopher who mocks at them, for he himself does not feel flattered when the whole world praises him and does not feel discouraged when the whole world blames him. He can differentiate the internal form the external; he can distinguish between honour and disgrace. But that is all he can do. Although he is not entangled in worldly affairs, he still has something unattained.

Then there is Liezi, who can travel by riding the wind in a free and easy manner, returning to earth in fifteen days. He is never entangled in worldly fortunes, but although he does not have to walk, he is still dependent on something. However, suppose someone rides on the true course of heaven and earth and harnesses the change of the six vital elements of yin, yang, wind, rain, darkness and brightness to travel in the infinite. What is there for him to be dependent on? Therefore, as the saying goes, “The perfect man cares for no self; the holy man cares for no merit; the sage cares for no name.”

…

Chapter 2

On the Uniformity of All Things

Nanguo Ziqi sat leaning on the low table. He gazed at the sky and breathed gently, in a trance as if his soul had left his body. His disciple Yancheng Ziyou, who stood in waiting before him, said, “How does it come to this? Can your body really become thus like a withered tree and your soul like dead ashes? Your appearance as you lean on your low table today is not the same as it used to be.”

Ziqi said, “Yan, you?ve asked a good question. Do you know that I lost myself just now? You have heard the music of the man, but you haven?t heard the music of the earth. You may have heard the music of the earth, but you may not have heard the music of the heaven!”

…

Ziyou said, “The music of the earth is the sound from all those hollows while the music of the man is the sound from different flutes and pipes. May I ask what is the music of the heaven?”Ziqi said, ”The music of the heaven is varied, but it is the same wind that makes different hollows produce different sounds. Each hollow produce its own sound; what else is there to emit the sound?”

…

Speech is not just like the blowing of the wind. It has meaning, which is not fixed. Is there something reasonable in it, or is there nothing reasonable in it? It is supposed to be

different from the chirping of small birds. Is it really different or is it not, as a matter of fact?

Why is Tao so obscure that it can be considered both true and false? Why is speech so obscure that it can be considered both right and wrong? Why does Tao prevail and seem to be non-existent? Tao is obscured when it is concealed by minor achievements; speech is obscured between Confucianism and Mohism --- each approves what the other disapproves and disapproves what the other approves. In that case, however, the best thing to do is to bring the truth to light.

… Thus, instead of making these distinctions [between right and wrong], the sage seeks enlightenment from the heave, that is to say, he seeks to recognize the true state of things. …To recognize that there is no opposite for either “that side”or “this side”is the essence of Tao. To recognize the essence of Tao is like staying at the centre of things --- ready to cope with the infinite transformation of things. Right is infinite and wrong is infinite, too. Therefore, it is said that the best thing to do is to bring the truth to light. …

Only the truly wise man knows that interchangeability leads to uniformity. Instead of dwelling on the distinction of things, he follows their ordinary course. …the ordinary course of things comes close to the true state of Tao. He is following the natural course of things, but he does not know why things develop along this natural course, which is called “Tao”.

…

There is in the world nothing greater than the tips of the downs of a bird in autumn while Mount Tai is tiny. There is no one who lives longer than a dead baby while Peng Zu, who lived over 700 years, died young. The heaven and the earth and I came to existence at the same time; all things in the world and I are one uniformity. Since all things are one uniformity, what else is there to say? Since I have said that all things are on uniformity, how can there be nothing to say? “One uniformity”and what I have said about it makes two, two and one makes three. If we go on like this, even the cleverest mathematician cannot keep up, let alone the ordinary people. Therefore, if, by moving from non-existence to existence, we arrive at “three”, how much farther would we go if we move from existence to existence! We?d better not move any farther, but follow the natural course of things.

…

Wang Ni said, “The perfect man is divine. Even though the great swamp were set on fire, he would not feel the heat; even though the rivers were frozen, he would not feel the cold; even though the thunder hit the mountain and the whirlwind shook the sea, he would not feel the shock. Such a man can ride the clouds and mists, mount the sun and the moon, and travel beyond the four seas. How can a man unaffected by life and death bother about benefit and harm?”

…

“The different voices in an argument are in opposition to each other. To smooth out the opposition is to conform to the natural division of things as it is till the very end. What is meant by conforming to the natural division of things? May answer would be that …right?may be not …right?and …so? may be not …so?. If …right?is really right, then …right?is so different from …not right? that there is no need for argument; if …so?

is really so, then …so? is so different from …not so? that there is again no need for argument. Forget about the time, forget about the distinctions, and you will be able to travel in the realm of the infinite. Therefore, the say lives in the realm of the infinite. ”

The penumbra asked the shadow, “A little while ago you were moving when the man walked, and now you are standing still when the man stops; a little while ago you were sitting when the man sat, and now you are standing up when the man rises. How is it that you lack independent actions?”

The shadow answered, “Don?t I have to depend on the man to be what I am? Doesn?t the man have to depend on the snake?s scales or the cicada?s wings? How can I know why I do this? How can I know why I don?t do that?”

I, by the name of Zhang Zhou, once dreamed that I was a butterfly, a butterfly fluttering happily here and there. I was so pleased that I forgot that I was Zhuang Zhou. When I suddenly woke up, I was astonished to find that I was as a matter of fact Zhuang Zhou. Did Zhuang Zhou dream of the butterfly or did the butterfly dream of Zhuang Zhou? Between Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinctions. This is called “the transformation of things.”