苏轼·《儋耳夜书》英译

己卯（公元一〇九九年）上元，余在儋州，有老书生数人来过，曰：“良月佳夜，先生能一出乎？”予欣然从之，步城西，入僧舍，历小巷，民夷杂揉，屠酤纷然，归舍已三鼓矣。舍中掩关熟寝，已再鼾矣。放杖而笑，孰为得失。问：“先生何笑？”盖自笑也。然亦笑韩退之钓鱼无得，更欲远去，不知走海者未必得大鱼也。”

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A Note Written at Night in Tanchow

This is January 15, 1099, the Festival of Shangyuan. I am living at Tanchow. Several old scholars have come to visit me. They said, “Master, can you come out for a stroll? There is such a beautiful moon and the night is so calm.” Happily I accepted the suggestion and we all went out to the western part of the town and entered a temple. We passed through small alleys filled with the Chinese and the tribesmen. There was quiet a crowd at the wine shops. By the time we returned, it was already midnight, and the servants were snoring in their sleep. Thinking that fortune and adversity were all the same, I laid my cane behind the door and laughed. “What are you laughing at, Master?” the scholars asked. “I was laughing at myself and at Han Yu,” I replied. “Han Yu was once fishing. He could not catch any fish, and thought he could catch them by going to another place. He did not know that by going to the sea, one does not necessarily catch big fish!”