歸有光
項脊軒，舊南閣子也。室僅方丈，可容一人居。百年老屋，塵泥滲漉，雨澤下注，每移案，顧視無可置者。又北向，不能得日，日過午已昏。餘稍為修葺，使不上漏。前闢四窗，垣牆周庭，以當南日，日影反照，室始洞然。又雜植蘭桂竹木於庭，舊時欄楯亦遂增勝。積書滿架，偃仰嘯歌，冥然兀坐，萬籟有聲。而庭階寂寂，小鳥時來啄食，人至不去。三五之夜，明月半牆，桂影斑駁，風移影動，珊珊可愛。
My study Xiangjixuan used to be called South Chamber. It was only ten feet by ten, large enough for one person to live in. As it was nearly one hundred years old, dust and flakes of plaster fell and the roof let in rain. When I moved my desk, I could find no place to keep it off the rain.It faced the north and the sun could not get inside. Soon after noon it turned dusky. I did some repairs to the roof to stop it leaking, opened four windows in front and built a wall around.When the sun was reflected from the wall, the room brightened up. I planted orchids, laurels, bamboos and trees about and, therefore, the old railings looked brighter with colors. The bookshelf was filled with books on loan. I read and chanted aloud, beating time by swaying back forth. Sitting in it I could hear various sounds emanating from outside. It was so quiet round the steps that small birds often came looking for food there, not scared of men's presence. On the fifteenth night of the lunar month the bright moon flooded half of the wall. When a gentle breeze arose, laurel leaves shimmered flecks of moonlight on the wall and it was pleasing to see the shadows dancing and hear the leaves rustling in the wind. I lived in this room, happy in some ways and sad in others.
然餘居於此，多可喜，亦多可悲。先是，庭中通南北為一。迨諸父異爨，內外多置小門，牆往往而是。東犬西吠，客逾庖而宴，雞棲於廳。庭中始為籬，已為牆，凡再變矣。
Previously the courtyard was all the way through from south to north. When my uncles began to live separately, they put up low walls here and there with small doors in them. Dogs in the east barked toward the west. Guests had to go through the kitchen to wine and dine. Sometimes chickens roosted in the hall. The courtyard was first partitioned by fences and later by walls. Such changes had taken place several times.
家有老嫗，嘗居於此。嫗，先大母婢也，乳二世，先妣撫之甚厚。室西連於中閨，先妣嘗一至。嫗每謂餘曰：“某所，而母立於茲。”嫗又曰：“汝姊在吾懷，呱呱而泣；娘以指叩門扉曰：‘兒寒乎？欲食乎？’吾從板外相為應答。”語未畢，餘泣，嫗亦泣。
We had an old maid who once lived in this room. She was the maid of my late grandma. She had nursed two generations of my family. My late mother had been very kind to her. The room was connected with my mother's bedroom on the west and she once came over. "That's where your mum stood when she came," she would tell me. "I was holding your elder sister in my arms when she cried. Your mum tapped on the door with her fingers, asking:'Is the child cold or is she hungry?'I answered her from this side…" Before she was finished I wept and so did she.
餘自束髮讀書軒中，一日，大母過餘曰：“吾兒，久不見若影，何竟日默默在此，大類女郎也？”比去，以手闔門，自語曰：“吾家讀書久不效，兒之成，則可待乎？”頃之，持一象笏至，曰：“此吾祖太常公宣德間執此以朝，他日汝當用之。”瞻顧遺蹟，如在昨日，令人長號不自禁。
Since I was fifteen I had been reading in this study. One day Grandma came and said:"I haven't seen you for ages, my child. Why do you shut yourself up in here like a girl?" When she left she closed the door behind her, mumbling to herself:"Since long none of my family have got anywhere with their studies. Hopefully, this child will be of some promise. " In a few moments she returned with an ivory tablet in her hand, saying:"This is the tablet with which my grandfather Duke Taichang attended court sessions during the years of Xuande. You may have use for it some day." Looking at it today I felt as if it had occurred just the day before. I couldn't help bursting into tears.
軒東，故嘗為廚，人往，從軒前過。餘扃牖而居，久之，能以足音辨人。軒凡四遭火，得不焚，殆有神護者。
On the east of my study there used to be the kitchen. To get to the kitchen one had to pass my study. Though I lived in it with the windows closed, gradually I learned to tell by the tread who was passing by. The room had caught fire four times,but it had not been burned down.Probably it had been protected by gods.
項脊生曰：蜀清守丹穴，利甲天下，其後秦皇帝築女懷清檯。劉玄德與曹操爭天下，諸葛孔明起隴中。方二人之昧昧於一隅也，世何足以知之？餘區區處敗屋中，方揚眉瞬目，謂有奇景。人知之者，其謂與坎井之蛙何異！
The occupant of Xiangjixuan comments: Window Qing of Sichuan made so much profits from her mining of cinnabar that she topped the country and the Emperor of the Qin Dynasty built a terrace in her honor. When Liu Bei and Cao Cao were fighting each other for the rule of China, Zhuge Liang emerged from Longzhong. When Widow Qing and Zhuge Liang lived in obscurity in far-off corners, how did they become known to the outside world? This humble man is now living in this shabby room, but when I raised my brows and looked up, I claim to see magnificent prospects in it. People who get to know about it will think I am no more than a frog at the bottom of the well.
餘既為此志，後五年，吾妻來歸，時至軒中，從餘問古事，或憑几學書。吾妻歸寧，述諸小妹語曰：“聞姊家有閣子，且何謂閣子也？”其後六年，吾妻死，室壞不修。其後二年，餘久臥病無聊，乃使人復葺南閣子，其制稍異於前。然自後餘多在外，不常居。
Five years after I wrote the above article, I got married. My wife often came to my study, asking about things of old or learning calligraphy at my desk. When she returned from her visit to her parents she told me what her sisters had asked:"We hear there is a chamber in your home, but what is a chamber really?" Six years later my wife died. The condition of the room worsened and I left it as it was. Another two years later I fell ill and was laid up in bed for a long time. Feeling bored, I had South Chamber renovated and it looked a bit different from before. Since then I had been away from home most of the time and seldom lived in it.
庭有枇杷樹，吾妻死之年所手植也，今已亭亭如蓋矣。
In the courtyard there was the loquat my wife planted the year she died. It stood there with graceful poise, its top spread out with exuberant foliage.
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