Askerfor
an open personal world
爱莲说
宋－周敦颐
水陆草木之花, 可爱者甚蕃. 晋陶渊明独爱菊. 自李唐来，世人盛爱牡丹. 予独爱莲之出淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖，中通外直，不蔓不枝，香远益清，亭亭净植，可远观而不可亵玩焉。
予谓菊，花之隐逸者也；牡丹，花之富贵者也. 莲，花之君子者也。噫! 菊之爱, 陶后鲜有闻. 莲之爱, 同予者何人? 牡丹之爱, 宜乎众矣。
On the Love of Lotus
By Dun-Yi Zhou, Song Dynasty
Of land and aquatic flowers, many are adorable. Tao of Jin Dynasty admires nothing but chrysanthemum. The people since Tang Dynasty prefer peony. I admire lotus alone, for it is not fouled while rooting in sludge; for it appears to be a decent spirit in the crystal water; for it has a hollow stem and always keeps upright; for it declines to be branching and vining; for it spreads its fragrance far off; for it stands out and stands still; and for it is suited to be watched at a distance rather than being caressed.
Chrysanthemum, in my eyes, is the hermit of flowers; peony, the rich and the noble; and lotus, the virtuous. Alas! For loving Chrysanthemum, few are heard of after Tao. Of loving lotus, who identify the same values with me? Loving peony, rather, characterizes the people in general.
