陋室铭

An Epigraph in Praise of My Humble Home

山不在高，有仙则名。

A mountain needn’t be high;

It is famous so long as there is a deity on it.

水不在深，有龙则灵。

A lake needn’t be deep;

It has supernatural power so long as there is a dragon in it.

斯是陋室，惟吾德馨。

My home is humble,

But it enjoys the fame of virtue so long as I am living in it.

苔痕上阶绿，草色入帘青。

The moss creeping onto the doorsteps turns them green,

The hue of the grass reflected through the bamboo curtains turns the room blue.

谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁。

Erudite scholars come in good spirits to talk with me,

And among my guests there is no unlearned common man.

可以调素琴，阅金经。

In this humble room, I can enjoy playing my plainly decorated qin,

or read the Buddhist scriptures quietly.

无丝竹之乱耳，无案牍之劳形。

Without the disturbance of the noisy tunes that jar on the ears,

or the solemn burden of reading official documents.

南阳诸葛庐，西蜀子云亭。

My humble home is like the thatched hut of Zhuge Liang of Nanyang,

or the Pavilion Ziyun of Xishu.

孔子云：“何陋之有？”

Confucius once said, “How could we call a room humble as long as there is a virtuous man in it.”