彭端淑·《白鹤堂集·蜀鄙之僧》英译

蜀之鄙有二僧：其一贫，其一富。贫者语于富者曰：“吾欲之南海，何如？”富者曰：“子何恃而往？”曰：“吾一瓶一钵足矣。”富者曰：“吾数年来欲买舟而下，犹未能也；子何恃而往？”越明年，贫者自南海还，以告富者，富者有惭色。西蜀之去南海，不知几千里也。僧之富者不能至，而贫者至焉。人之立志，顾不如蜀鄙之僧哉！

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Two Monks in the Frontier of Sichuan

There lived two monks in the frontier of Sichuan: one poor and the other rich. One day the poor monk said to the rich one:

“I’m thinking of going to Nanhai. What do you think of it?”

“On what do you depend for going there?” asked the rich monk. “A bottle and a basin will suffice me,” answered the other.

“Well, I have been entertaining the idea of taking a boat and setting off for there for many years, but have failed thus far. How can you go without any support?”

One year later the poor monk returned from Nanhai and told his travels to the rich one, who was put to shame to hear it.

It is so many thousand miles from the frontier of Sichuan to Nanhai. The rich monk failed to go, but the poor one went. Couldn’t we make up our minds to do something as the poor monk of the frontier of Sichuan did?