荘子 「秋水」

さうしぼくすいにつる。そわう たいふににんをしてゆきてさきんぜしむ。いはく、

「ねがはくはけいだいをもつてわづらはさん」と。さうしさををぢし、かへりみずして

いはく、「われきく、『そにしんきあり、ししてすでにさんぜんさいなり。わうきんしして

これをべうだうのうへにをさむ』と。このきなるもの、むしろそれししてほねをとどめて

たふとばるるをなさんか、むしろそれいきてををとちゅうにひかんか」と。にたいふ

いはく、「むしろいきてををとちゅうにひかん」と。さうしいはく、

「ゆけ。われまさにををとちゅうにひかんとす」と。

CHUANG TZU AUTUMN FLOODS

"Once, when Chuang Tzu was fishing in the P'u River, the king of Ch'u sent two officials to go and announce to him: "I would like to trouble you with the admininstration of my realm." Chuang Tzu held on to the fishing pole and, without turning his head, said, "I have heard that there is a sacred tortoise in Ch'u that has been dead for three thousand years. The king keeps it wrapped in cloth and boxed, and stores it in the ancestral temple. Now would this tortoise rather be dead and have its bones left behind and honored? Or would it rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud?" "It would rather be alive and dragging its tail in the mud," said the two officials. Chuang Tzu said, "Go away! I'll drag my tail in the mud!"

Watson, Burton trs. Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings. (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1964), p. 109.

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