4月5日

陋室銘
唐 劉禹錫 ( 772~842 )

山不在高，有仙則名；
水不在深，有龍則靈。
斯是陋室，惟吾德馨。
苔痕上階綠，草色入簾青；
談笑有鴻儒，往來無白丁。
可以調素琴，閱金經。
無絲竹之亂耳，無案牘之勞形。
南陽諸葛廬，西蜀子雲亭。
孔子曰：「何陋之有？」

──選自《全唐文》

April 5th

Inscriptions of a Humble Room
Liu Yuxi (772 - 842, Tang Dynasty)
English translation: Miao Guang

A mountain is not renowned for its loftiness
    but for the celestial beings who reside;
A spring is not enchanted by its deep water
    but by the dragon that abides.

Such is a humble room permeated with only the
fragrance of my virtue. Traces of green moss creep
up the steps, while colors of verdant grass seep
through the blinds. Amongst my chattery guests are
learned scholars; none are commoners who come
and go. Without the distracting noises of banquet
music, nor the laborious processing of state papers,
all that is left to do is to tune my plain zither or read
the golden texts. In comparison to Zhuge Liang's
hut in Nanyang, and Zi Yun's pavilion in Xishu, just
as Confucius had once said, “In what way is it ever
humble?”

── from Quan Tang Wen (Complete Tang Literature)