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《兰亭集序》（林语堂两种翻译版本）
永和九年，岁在癸丑，暮春之初，会于会稽山阴之兰亭，修禊事也。群贤毕至，少长咸集。此地有崇山峻岭，茂林修竹；又有清流激湍，映带左右，引以为流觞曲水，列坐其次。虽无丝竹管弦之盛，一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情。
是日也，天朗气清，惠风和畅，仰观宇宙之大，俯察品类之盛，所以游目骋怀，足以极视听之娱，信可乐也。
夫人之相与，俯仰一世，或取诸怀抱，晤言一室之内；或因寄所托，放浪形骸之外。虽取舍万殊，静躁不同，当其欣于所遇，暂得于己，快然自足，不知老之将至。及其所之既倦，情随事迁，感慨系之矣。向之所欣，俯仰之间，已为陈迹，犹不能不以之兴怀。况修短随化，终期于尽。古人云：“死生亦大矣。”岂不痛哉！
每览昔人兴感之由，若合一契，未尝不临文嗟悼，不能喻之于怀。固知一死生为虚诞，齐彭殇为妄作。后之视今，亦犹今之视昔。悲夫！故列叙时人，录其所述，虽世殊事异，所以兴怀，其致一也。后之览者，亦将有感于斯文。
This is the ninth year of Yungho (AD353) Kueichou
in cycle. We met in late spring at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin
to celebrate the Water Festival.
All the scholar friends are gathered, and there is
a goodly mixture of old and young. In the background lie high peaks
and deep forests, while a clear, gurgling brook catches the light
to the right and to the left. We then arrange ourselves, sitting on
its bank, drinking in succession form the goblet as it floats down
the stream .No music is provided, but with drinking and with song,
our hearts are gay and at ease. It is a clear spring day with a
mild, caressing breeze, the vast universe, throbbing with life,
lies spread before us, entertaining the eye and pleasing the spirit
and all the senses. It is perfect.
Now when men come together, they let their
thoughts travel to the present. Some enjoy a quiet conversation
indoors and others play about outdoors, occupied with what they
love. The forms of annulment differ according to temperaments, but
when each has found what he wants, he is happy and never feels old,
then as time passes on and one is tired of his pursuits, it seems
that what fascinated him not so long ago has become a mere memory.
What a thought! Besides, whether individually we live a long life
or not, we all return to nothingness. The ancient regarded death as
the great question. Is it not sad to think of it?
I often thought that the people of the past lived
and felt exactly as we of today. Whenever I read their writing, I
felt this way and was seized with its pathos. It is cool comfort to
say that life and death are different phases of the same thing and
that a long span of life or a short one does not matter. Alas! The
people of the future will look upon us as we look upon those who
have gone before us. Hence I have recorded here those present and
what they said. Ages may pass and times may change, but the human
sentiments will be the same; I know that future readers who set
their eyes upon these words will be affected in the same
way.
The Orchid Pavilion
In the ninth year of the reign Yungho[A.D. 353] in
the beginning of late spring we met at the Orchid Pavilion in
Shanyin of Kweich'i for the Water Festival, to wash away the evil
spirits.
Here are gathered all the illustrious persons and
assembled both the old and the young. Here are tall mountains and
majestic peaks, trees with thick foliage and tall bamboos. Here are
also clear streams and gurgling rapids, catching one's eye from the
right and left. We group ourselves in order, sitting by the
waterside, and drinking in succession from a cup floating down the
curving stream; and although there is no music from string and
wood-wind instruments, yet with alternate singing and drinking, we
are well disposed to thoroughly enjoy a quiet intimate
conversation.
Today the sky is clear, the air is fresh and the
kind breeze is mild. Truly enjoyable it is sit to watch the immense
universe above and the myriad things below, traveling over the
entire landscape with our eyes and allowing our sentiments to roam
about at will, thus exhausting the pleasures of the eye and the
ear.
Now when people gather together to surmise life
itself, some sit and talk and unburden their thoughts in the
intimacy of a room, and some, overcome by a sentiment, soar forth
into a world beyond bodily realities. Although we select our
pleasures according to our inclinations—some noisy and rowdy, and
others quiet and sedate—yet when we have found that which pleases
us, we are all happy and contented, to the extent of forgetting
that we are growing old. And then, when satiety follows
satisfaction, and with the change of circumstances, change also our
whims and desires, there then arises a feeling of poignant regret.
In the twinkling of an eye, the objects of our former pleasures
have become things of the past, still compelling in us moods of
regretful memory. Furthermore, although our lives may be long or
short, eventually we all end in nothingness. "Great indeed are life
and death", said the ancients. Ah! What sadness!
I often study the joys and regrets of the ancient
people, and as I lean over their writings and see that they were
moved exactly as ourselves, I am often overcome by a feeling of
sadness and compassion, and would like to make those things clear
to me. Well I know it is a lie to say that life and death are the
same thing, and that longevity and early death make no difference!
Alas! As we of the present look upon those of the past, so will
posterity look upon our present selves. Therefore, have I put down
a sketch of these contemporaries and their sayings at this feast,
and although time and circumstances may change, the way they will
evoke our moods of happiness and regret will remain the same. What
will future readers feel when they cast their eyes upon this
writing.
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