苏辙·《黄州快哉亭记》英译

江出西陵，始得平地，其流奔放肆大。南合沅、湘 ，北合汉沔 ，其势益张。至于赤壁之下，波流浸灌，与海相若。清河张君梦得谪居齐安，即其庐之西南为亭，以览观江流之胜，而余兄子瞻名之曰“快哉”。

盖亭之所见，南北百里，东西一舍。涛澜汹涌，风云开阖。昼则舟楫出没于其前，夜则鱼龙悲啸于其下。变化倏忽，动心骇目，不可久视。今乃得玩之几席之上，举目而足。西望武昌诸山，冈陵起伏,草木行列，烟消日出，渔夫樵父之舍，皆可指数：此其所以为快哉者也。至于长洲之滨，故城之墟，曹孟德、孙仲谋之所睥睨，周瑜、陆逊之所骋骛 ，其流风遗迹，亦足以称快世俗。

昔楚襄王从宋玉、景差于兰台之宫，有风飒然至者，王披襟当之，曰：“快哉此风!寡人所与庶人共者耶？”宋玉曰：“此独大王之雄风耳，庶人安得共之!”玉之言盖有讽焉。夫风无雌雄之异，而人有遇不遇之变；楚王之所以为乐，与庶人之所以为忧，此则人之变也，而风何与焉？

士生于世，使其中不自得，将何往而非病？使其中坦然，不以物伤性，将何适而非快？今张君不以谪为患，窃会计之余功，而自放山水之间，此其中宜有以过人者。将蓬户瓮牖，无所不快；而况乎濯长江之清流，揖西山之白云 ，穷耳目之胜以自适也哉!不然，连山绝壑，长林古木，振之以清风，照之以明月，此皆骚人思士之所以悲伤憔悴而不能胜者，乌睹其为快也哉!

The Huangzhou Ecstasy Arbor

The Yangtze River gains the plain after it has cleared the Xiling Gorge. Its currents, raging in a broad expanse, acquire greater momentum with the intake of its tributaries such as the Yuan and Xiang in the south, the Han and Mian in the north. When it comes near the Red Cliff, it looks like a sea, as the area is inundated by rapid floods. Zhang mengde of Qinghe, having been relegated to a post in Qi’an, built an arbor to the southwest of his house to view the scenic splendor of the river, and my elder brother Su Zizhan exalted it with the name “ecstasy arbor”.

For as far the eye can reach, one can see from the arbor a tract of land extending a hundred li from north to south and thirty li from east to west. In this vast area in which waters are surging in billows and clouds drifting with the winds, boats and ships shuttle before him in the day; while fish and dragons moan under him at night. Everything is so momentarily changing and soul-stirring that one cannot afford to fie the scene a long look. In this arbor, however, he can enjoy himself at the table and all he has to do is to lift his eyes: for in the vicinity of Wuchang, mountains rise and decline in undulations; woods overlap in lines; mists dissipate and the sun peers out; cottages of fishermen and woodcutters are evident enough to be counted on fingers. This is what gives nature’s admirers ecstasy. As for the banks of shoals, the ruins of ancient towns, the places where Cao Mengde and Sun Zhongmou challenged each other with defiance, and Zhou Yu and Lu Xun displayed their martial glory—all such historic relics and sights are also sufficient to give common people a rapturous feeling.

Once King Xiang of Chu stayed in the palace of Lantai in the company of Song Yu and Jingchai, a gust of wind came rustling over and the King spread his cloak against it, saying, “How bracing the wind is! Is this shared by us and the common people?” Song Yu replied, “This is the masculine wind of Your Majesty. How can it be enjoyed by the vulgar herd?” Song’s remark had a hint of satire. For the wind is not to be divided into masculine and feminine genders. But men differ in their feelings of frustration or gratification. What might be the joy of a king could be the worry of the populace. It is a matter of their different situations, having nothing to do with the wind.

If a man born into this world does not feel contentment with what he has, he would find worries wherever he goes. But if he has ease of mind and does not allow things material to interfere with his nature, there is no place where he will not feel happy. Now Mr. Zhang thinks little of his relegation and uses the spare time after his business hours to abandon himself to the scenic beauty, he must indeed have something unusual about him. Given such a quality, one can live in a shabby house and still find happiness in everything imaginable, to say nothing of having his feet in the limpid water of the Yangtze and drawing the white clouds over the western mountain, enjoying to the full the sensuous pleasure from nature! Otherwise, the chains of somber mountains and valleys, coupled with ancient trees and extended forests combed by a cheerless wind and lit by a pale moon, are enough to make poets and thinkers languish an lose heart—how can there be any ecstasy?