汉英对照《增广贤文》（132）

满招损，

谦受益。

百年光阴，

如驹过隙。

世事明如镜，

前程暗似漆。

有麝自然香，

何必当风立。

良田万顷，

日食三餐；

大厦千间，

夜眠八尺。

救生不救死，

寄物不寄失。

人生孰不需财，

匹夫不可怀壁。

廉官可酌贪泉水，

志士不受嗟来食。

适志在花柳灿烂、笙歌沸腾处，

那都是一场幻境界；

得趣于木落草枯、声稀味淡中，

才觅得一些真消息。

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Modesty brings benefit,

Pride brings suffering.

A hundred years’ time

Is as short as a horse jumping across a crack.

World affairs

Are as bright and clear as a mirror,

Prospects

Are as dark as the society painted black.

An enjoyable aroma emanates from musk,

To enjoy it

You do not need the help of the wind.

You eat only three meals a day,

Even if you have thousands of hectares of land;

To sleep you need only eight feet of space,

Even if you have hundreds of mansions.

Save the living instead of the dead,

Place hope in things practical

Instead of in things forlorn.

All people are in need of property,

But true valuables

Cannot be kept by the average person.

A noble man refuses help handed out in scorn,

An incorruptible official

Resist all temptation.

A person who desires sensual pleasures

Can only obtain fantasy,

A person who pursues joy through a simple life

Can acquire truly valuable knowledge.