《庄子·列御寇·庄子将死》英译

庄子将死，弟子欲厚葬之。庄子曰：“吾以天地为棺椁，以日月为连璧，星辰为珠玑，万物为赍送。吾葬具岂不备邪？何以加此？”

弟子曰：“吾恐乌鸢之食夫子也。”庄子曰：“在上为乌鸢食，在下为蝼蚁食，夺彼与此，何其偏也！”

以不平平，其平也不平；以不徵徵，其徵也不徵。明者唯为之使，神者徵之。夫明之不胜神也久矣，而愚者恃其所见入于人，其功外也，不亦悲乎！

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Zhuangzi Was About to Die

Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi was about to die. His students wanted sumptuously to bury him. Zhuangzi said:”I have the sky and the earth for my coffin and case, the sun and moon are my jade symbol, the stars and constellations are my pearls, the ten thousand things will go with me like mourners. So what can you possibly add to my funeral service?”

The students said then: “We are afraid the kites and crows will eat you, sir.”

Zhuangzi said: “Above ground, kites and crows eat you. Below ground, bugs and worms eat you. Can you give me a reason to pick one over the other?”

[To seek fairness through an unfair method, the result can by no means b e fair; to test with an untested criterion, the outcome of the test can by no means be reliable. A pretentious man is enslaved by this kind of dubious practice while a wise man examines its truth. A pretentious man is always inferior to a wise man, yet a foolish man, (although he is inferior to a pretentious man,) would in addition affect others with his prejudice. Therefore, he is bound to be wrong. Isn’t it a sad thing?]