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宇宙万物——之二十一
景有言之极幽而实萧索者，烟雨也；境有言之极雅而实难堪者，贫病也；声有言之极韵而实
粗鄙者，卖花声也。
（谢）海翁曰：物有言之极俗而实可爱者，阿堵物也。
竹坡曰：我幸得极雅之境。
Some moments are exquisite, but really dreary---heavy fog and rain.
Some circumstances are said to be poetic, but really hard to
bear---poverty and sickness. Some sounds seem very charming on
paper, but are really coarse---the cry of flower sellers on the
streets.
Haiweng: Some things are said to be very vulgar, but really
adorable. That is money.
Chupo: So I am living in what is considered very “poetic”
circumstances.
宇宙万物——之二十二
楼上看山，城头看雪，灯前看月，舟中看霞，月下看美人，另是一番情境。
（江）允凝曰：黄山看云更佳。
永清曰：做官时看进士，分金处看文人。
（毕）右万曰：予每于雨后看柳，觉尘襟俱涤。
谨庸曰：山上看雪，雪中看花，花中看美人，亦可。
Things give you a different mood and impression when looked at from
a particular place: such as hills seen from a tower, snow seen from
the top of a city wall, the moon seen in lamplight, river haze seen
from a boat, and pretty women seen in the moonlight.
Yunning: Still better to see the sea of clouds from the top of the
Yellow Mountain.
Yungching: To see the faces of new candidates [chinshih] when one
is an official. And to see
scholar’s faces when money is being distributed.
Yuwan: I often look at willows after a rain. It refreshes one’s
spirits entirely.
Chinyung: It is also possible to enjoy looking at snow from
mountaintops, looking at flowers
while walking in the snow, and looking at pretty women in a flower
garden.
宇宙万物——之二十三
玩月之法，皎洁则仰观，朦胧则宜俯视。
A clear moon should be seen from below; a dark or hazy moon should
be seen looking down from
a high altitude.
宇宙万物——之二十四
山之光，水之声，月之色，花之香，文人之韵致，美人之姿态，皆无可名状，无可执着，真
足以摄召魂梦，颠倒情思。
街南曰：以极有韵致之文人，与极有姿态之美人，共坐于山水花月间，不知此时魂梦如何，
情思如何。
Such things as the color of mountains, the sound of water, the
light of the moon, the fragrance of flowers, the charm of poets,
and the expression_r of beautiful women can not be put into words,
yet they have a power to captivate one’s soul and linger in one’s
memories and dreams.
Chiehnan: Imagine then the meeting of a most interesting poet and a
most extraordinary beauty in a surrounding of hills and water and
flowers under the moon---what is going to happen?
宇宙万物——之二十五
游玩山水亦复有缘，苟机缘未至，则虽近在数十里之内，亦无暇到也。
（张）南邨曰：余晤心斋时，询其曾游黄山否，心斋对以未游，当是机缘未至耳。
云士曰：余慕心斋者十年，今戊寅之冬始得一面，身到黄山恨其晚，而正未晚也。
One either has or has not the luck to travel and visit places.
Without luck, one has no time to visit the nearest mountain within
a few miles of one’s home.
Nanchun: When I met Shintsai, I asked him if he had gone up the
Yellow Mountain. He said he
had not yet. It must be that his luck had not come yet.
Yunshih: I had been an admirer of Shintsai for ten years, and only
met him in the year Mouyin (A.D. 1698). I regret not having been to
the Yellow Mountain earlier, but it is never too late to
mend.
宇宙万物——之二十六
镜中之影，着色人物也；月下之影，写意人物也；镜中之影，钩边画也；月下之影，没骨画
也。月中山河之影，天文中地理也；水中星月之象，地理中天文也。
（恽）叔子曰：绘空镂影之笔。
天外曰：此种着色写意能令古今善画人一齐搁笔。
契掌曰：好影子俱被心斋先生画着。
Reflections in the mirror are color paintings; forms in the
moonlight are drawings in ink.
Reflections in the mirror are paintings with sharp contours, while
the forms in moonlight are “boneless paintings” (without delineated
contours). The hills and rivers in the moon are geography in
heaven, while the reflections of the stars and the moon in water
are astronomy on earth.
Shutse: These lines themselves resemble paintings of elusive
shadows and forms.
Tienwai: Painters both in color and in ink might well stop to think
about this.
Chichang: All good reflections have been seized and put on paper by
Shintsai’s pen.
宇宙万物——之二十七
蝶为才子之化身，花乃美人之别号。
竹坡曰：蝶入花房香满衣，是反以金屋贮才子矣。
The butterfly is the incarnation of a brilliant scholar, and flower
is the poetic name of woman.
Chupo: The imagery of the butterfly for a scholar originates, I
think, in his desire for woman’s company, even as the butterfly
wishes to lose itself among flowers.
宇宙万物——之二十八
因雪想高士，因花想美人，因酒想侠客，因月想好友，因山水想得意诗文。
竹坡曰：多情语，令人泣下。
Snow reminds one of a great high-minded scholar; the flower reminds
one of a beautiful woman; wine brings up memories of great
cavaliers; the moon makes one think of friends; a beautiful
landscape makes one think of some good verse or prose.
Chupo: What a passionate soul!
宇宙万物——之二十九
当为花中之萱草，毋为鸟中之杜鹃。
语堂曰：萱草亦称忘忧，而杜鹃则有啼血之说。
Be the day lily among grass. Do not be the cuckoo among the
birds.
Yutang: The day lily is called “forget-sorrow” and the cuckoo’s
song is so sad it is said to shed tears of blood.
宇宙万物——之三十
花之宜于目而复宜于鼻者，梅也、菊也、兰也、水仙也、珠兰也、木香也、玫瑰也、腊梅也，
馀则皆宜于目者也。花与叶俱可观者，秋海棠为最，荷次之，海棠、酴醾、虞美人、水仙又
次之。叶胜于花者，止雁来红、美人蕉而已。花与叶俱不足观者，紫薇也、辛夷也。
竹坡曰：以一叶而能胜诸花者，此君也。
Flowers which are both pretty and have a good smell are the plum,
the chrysanthemum, the
[Chinese] orchid, the narcissus, the Chloranthus inconspicua, the
banksias rose, the rose, and the winter sweet. The others are all
for the eye. Among those whose leaves as well as flowers are good
to look at, the begonia ranks first, the lotus comes next, and then
follow the cherry apple, the Rubus commersonii [of the rose
family], the red poppy, and the narcissus. The amaranth and the
Musa uranoscopus [of the banana family] have prettier leaves than
flowers. The crape myrtle and the magnolia have nothing to
recommend themselves either in leaves or in flowers.
Chupo: That which wins the first place among them all by means of
its leaf alone is the bamboo.
宇宙万物——之三十一
梅令人高，兰令人幽，菊令人野，莲令人淡，春海棠令人艳，牡丹令人豪，蕉与竹令人韵，
秋海棠令人媚，松令人逸，桐令人清，柳令人感。
谨庸曰：读之惊才绝绝，堪采入《群芳谱》中。
The following flowers create each a mood: the plum flower goes with
poetry [which alone of all flowers blooms in pink against a
background of snow], the orchid with seclusion [flowering on
mountain cliffs content with being unseen], the chrysanthemum with
the rustic flavor, the lotus with simplicity of heart, the cherry
apple with glamour, the peony with success [power and wealth], the
banana and the bamboo with gentlemanly charm, the begonia with
seductive beauty, the pine tree with retirement, the plane tree
with absence of worry, and the willow with sentimentality.
Chinyung: These have all their talent (as with scholars) and their
glamour (as with women).
宇宙万物——之三十二
凡花色之娇媚者多不甚香，瓣之千层者多不结实，甚矣全才之难也，兼之者其惟莲乎。
日戒曰：花叶根实，无所不空，亦无不适于用，莲则全有其德者也。
贯玉曰：莲花易谢，所谓有全才而无全福者也。
丹麓曰：我欲荔枝有好花，牡丹有佳实，方妙。
谨庸曰：全才必为人所忌，莲花故名君子。
语堂曰：莲花出污泥而不染。
Most flowers that are pretty have no smell, and those that have
multilayer petals do not bear fruit. How rare is a perfect talent!
The lotus, however, has all these attributes.
Jihchieh: From its root and leaf to its flowers and seeds, the
lotus serves a useful purpose.
Kuanyu: The lotus bloom does not last long. Where one’s talent is
perfect, one’s luck isn’t.
Tanlu: For me, it would be perfect if the litchi had pretty flowers
and the peony bore good fruit.
Chinyung: Perfect talent always invites jealousy. That is why the
lotus is honored with the name of a “gentleman”.
Yutang: The lotus grows out of mud, but is uncontaminated by
it.
宇宙万物——之三十三
以松花为量，以松实为香，以松枝为麈尾，以松阴为步障，以松涛为鼓吹。山居得乔松百馀
章，真乃受用不尽。
（施）愚山曰：君独不记曾有松多大蚁之恨耶。
含徵曰：松多大蚁，不妨便为蚁王。
天外曰：坐乔松下如坐水晶宫中，见万顷波涛总在头上，真仙境也。
One can use the pine flower for measurement, its seeds for perfume,
its branches for a duster to drive away insects, its big shade for
cover, and the wind whistling through it as music. Thus a man
living in the country with a hundred pine trees benefits from them
in many ways.
Yushan: But don’t forget that you regretted that large ants are
found near it.
Hanchen: Why not imagine yourself the king of ants?
Tienwai: One can lie under tall pines and imagine one self in an
undersea crystal palace with the surfs surging overhead.
宇宙万物——之三十四
笋为蔬中尤物，荔枝为果中尤物，蟹为水族中尤物，酒为饮食中尤物，月为天文中尤物，西
湖为山水中尤物，词曲为文字中尤物。
The bamboo shoot is unique among vegetarian food, and so are the
following, each in its class: the litchi among fruit, the crab
among shellfish, wine among drinks, the moon in the firmament, the
West Lake [Hang chow] among hills and water, and the Sung tze
[poems of irregular lines written to music] and the chu [songs for
the opera] in literature.
宇宙万物——之三十五
秋虫春鸟尚能调声弄舌，时吐好音，我辈？管拈毫，岂可甘作鸦鸣牛喘。
永清曰：世皆以鸦鸣牛喘为凤歌鸾唱，奈何。
Even autumn insects and spring birds can make melodious songs to
please the ear. How can we
who write just noises like the mooing of a cow or the cackling of a
crow?
Yungching: The cackling of a crow and the mooing of a cow, however,
are often taken for poetry.
宇宙万物——之三十六
蝉为虫中之夷齐，蜂为虫中之管晏。
（吴）镜秋曰：蚊是虫中酷吏，蝇是虫中游客。
The cicada is the retired gentleman among the insects, and the bee
is an efficient administrator.
Chingchiu: The mosquito is the jailor among insects, and the fly
the hobo.
宇宙万物——之三十七
蝇集人面，蚊嘬人肤，不知以人为何物。
康畴曰：应是头陀转世，意中但求布施也。
释菌人曰：不堪道破。
竹坡曰：此《南华》精髓也。
悔庵曰：正以人之血肉只堪供蝇蚊咀嚼耳。以我视之，人也；自蝇蚊视之，何异腥膻臭腐乎。
云士曰：集人面者，非蝇而蝇；嘬人肤者，非蚊而蚊。明知其为人也而集之嘬之，更不知其
以人为何物。
A fly rests on a man’s face, and a mosquito sucks man’s blood. What
do these insects take man for?
Kangchou: They are just monks who beg for alms.
[Monk] Chunjen: It’s a secret.
Chupo: This is the essence of Chuangtse’s philosophy [that
everything is relative and has its own standards].
Huei-an: What do they think? Just good meat and drink. They may
even think that we smell like mutton and relish it.
Yunshih: There are beings that collect around your face and suck
your blood. They are flies and mosquitoes and yet they are not. But
they do suck your blood. What do they consider us people?
宇宙万物——之三十八
蛛为蝶之敌国，驴为马之附庸。
星远曰：妙谕解颐，不数晋人危语隐语。
交三曰：自开辟以来，未闻有此奇论。
The spider is the racial enemy of the butterfly, while the donkey
is a satellite of the horse.
Shingyuan: This is like the conversation of the Chin
romantics.
Chiaoshan: I never heard of such talk since the beginning of the
world!
宇宙万物——之三十九
物之稚者皆不可厌，惟驴独否。
（黄）略似曰：物之老者皆可厌，惟松与梅则否。
永清曰：惟癖于驴者则不厌之。
All babies and the young of animals are lovely, except the donkey
colt.
Liaosze: All things that have grown old are unattractive, except
the old plum tree and the old pine.
Yungching: That depends. There are donkey lovers who think the baby
donkey pretty.
宇宙万物——之四十
牛与马，一仕而一隐也；鹿与豕，一仙而一凡也。
（杜）茶村曰：田单之牛亦曾效力疆场，至马之隐者则绝无之矣。若武王归马于华山之阳，
所谓勒令致仕者也。
The horse is a public servant, the cow a retired scholar. The deer
belongs to fairyland, the pig to this world.
Chaochun: Once under General Tien Tan, the cow was used in battle
by having its tail set on fire to rush the enemy lines, but I have
never heard of a retired horse. When Emperor Wu set his cavalry
horses free to pasture, this was what is usually called “compulsory
retirement”.
宇宙万物——之四十一
人则女美于男，禽则雄华于雌，兽则牝牡无分者也。
茶村（于皇）曰：人亦有男美于女者，此尚非确论。
（徐）松之曰：此是茶村兴到之言，亦非定论。
In human beings, the female is more beautiful than the male. Among
birds, the male is prettier than the female. Among beasts, there is
no difference.
Chaochun: This is not quite true. Sometimes a man is handsomer than
a woman.
Sungtse: Chachun happens to say so at the moment. I don’t think
this is his considered opinion.
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