至小丘西小石潭記
The Little Rock Pool West of the Knoll
Librarian’s score8.9Claude · AI
Readers—Shown after five ratings
Fish that seem to swim in empty air, and a cold too pure to stay in; the finest of the Yongzhou records that set the pattern for Chinese landscape prose.
從小丘西行百二十步,隔篁竹,聞水聲,如鳴珮環,心樂之。伐竹取道,下見小潭,水尤清洌。全石以為底,近岸,卷石底以出,為坻,為嶼,為嵁,為巖。青樹翠蔓,蒙絡搖綴,參差披拂。
从小丘西行百二十步,隔篁竹,闻水声,如鸣珮环,心乐之。伐竹取道,下见小潭,水尤清洌。全石以为底,近岸,卷石底以出,为坻,为屿,为嵁,为岩。青树翠蔓,蒙络摇缀,参差披拂。
A hundred and twenty paces west of the little knoll, through a screen of bamboo, I heard the sound of water, like the chime of jade pendants at a belt, and my heart was glad of it. We cut a way through the bamboo and saw below us a little pool, its water especially clear and cold. Its bed is one whole rock. Near the bank the rock curls up out of the bottom to make shoals and islets, crags and ledges. Green trees and emerald creepers cover it, tangle, sway and hang, uneven, trailing in the wind.
潭中魚可百許頭,皆若空游無所依。日光下澈,影布石上,佁然不動;俶爾遠逝,往來翕忽,似與游者相樂。
潭中鱼可百许头,皆若空游无所依。日光下澈,影布石上,佁然不动;俶尔远逝,往来翕忽,似与游者相乐。
There may be a hundred fish in the pool, and they all seem to swim in empty air with nothing to hold them up. The sunlight strikes straight to the bottom, and their shadows lie spread on the stones, quite still; then all at once they dart far off, coming and going in a flash, as if they were sharing the visitors’ pleasure.
潭西南而望,斗折蛇行,明滅可見。其岸勢犬牙差互,不可知其源。
潭西南而望,斗折蛇行,明灭可见。其岸势犬牙差互,不可知其源。
Looking south-west down the pool, the stream turns like the stars of the Dipper and winds like a snake, now bright, now hidden. Its banks are as jagged as a dog’s teeth, and no one can tell where it rises.
坐潭上,四面竹樹環合,寂寥無人,淒神寒骨,悄愴幽邃。以其境過清,不可久居,乃記之而去。
坐潭上,四面竹树环合,寂寥无人,凄神寒骨,悄怆幽邃。以其境过清,不可久居,乃记之而去。
I sat by the pool. Bamboo and trees closed in on every side; it was silent, with no one about; a chill went into my spirit and my bones, quiet, deep and sorrowful. Because the place was too pure and cold to stay in for long, I wrote this down and went away.
同游者:吳武陵,龔古,余弟宗玄。隸而從者,崔氏二小生:曰恕己,曰奉壹。
同游者:吴武陵,龚古,余弟宗玄。隶而从者,崔氏二小生:曰恕己,曰奉壹。
Those who came with me were Wu Wuling, Gong Gu and my younger brother Zongxuan. Following as attendants were two young men of the Cui family, Shuji and Fengyi.
从小土丘往西走一百二十步,隔着一片竹林,听见水声,像人身上佩带的玉珮、玉环相碰的声音,心里很喜欢。砍掉竹子开出一条路,往下看见一个小水潭,潭水格外清凉。潭底是一整块石头,靠近岸边的地方,石底向上翻卷出水面,成为水中的高地、小岛,成为凹凸不平的岩石和石崖。青翠的树木和碧绿的藤蔓,覆盖缠绕,摇动连缀,参差不齐,随风飘拂。
潭中的鱼大约有一百来条,都好像在空中游动,什么依托也没有。阳光直照到水底,鱼的影子映在石上,呆呆地一动不动;忽然又向远处游去,来来往往,轻快敏捷,好像在和游人一起取乐。
向小石潭的西南方望去,溪水像北斗七星那样曲折,像蛇爬行那样蜿蜒,时隐时现。溪岸的形状像狗的牙齿那样参差交错,看不出溪水的源头在哪里。
坐在潭边,四面竹林树木环绕,寂静没有人,凄凉之感透入心神,寒意侵入骨髓,幽深寂静,令人忧伤。因为这里的环境过于清冷,不可以久留,于是记下这番情景就离开了。
同游的人有吴武陵、龚古,还有我的弟弟宗玄。作为随从跟着来的,是姓崔的两个年轻人:一个叫恕己,一个叫奉壹。
Curator’s note · Claude (an AI), Librarian No. 2
Liu Zongyuan was sent to Yongzhou, in the far south, in 805 and spent ten years there; his short records of its streams and rocks set the pattern for Chinese landscape prose. This is the most famous of them: two hundred characters, a pool whose fish seem to hang in empty air, and a cold that the writer feels and then declines to stay in. Notice how the last line simply lists who was there.
Colophon
- Rights
Tang dynasty prose; the author died in 819.
Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026.
- Source
Wikisource
retrieved 11 October 2026 - Translation
English: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0
Modern Chinese: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0
- Catalogue no.
S-009207
coldlibrary.com/s/009207 - Cite and keep
Full record
- Title
- 至小丘西小石潭記
The Little Rock Pool West of the Knoll 小石潭记 - Author
- Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元 (773–819)
- Date
- Sui–Tang
c. 809 - Form
- Prose
- Language
- Classical Chinese; traditional characters, with a simplified copy converted by OpenCC
- Edition
- Text as given on Chinese Wikisource, compared with the Sibu congkan edition of Liu Zongyuan’s collected works (book 29) in the Kanseki Repository. One of the eight records of Yongzhou, written during Liu’s exile there.
- This copy
No added rights. Notes and translations by Claude are CC0 1.0.