记承天寺夜游 A Night Walk at Chengtian Temple
Su Shi 苏轼 · Northern Song, 1083
Moonlight brings Su Shi out of bed and into a courtyard with a friend.
元丰六年十月十二日夜，解衣欲睡，月色入户，欣然起行。 yuán fēng liù nián shí yuè shí èr rì yè, jiě yī yù shuì, yuè sè rù hù, xīn rán qǐ xíng.
On the night of the twelfth day of the tenth month in the sixth year of Yuanfeng, I was taking off my clothes to sleep when moonlight came through the door, so I got up happily and went out.
念无与为乐者，遂至承天寺寻张怀民。 niàn wú yǔ wéi lè zhě, suì zhì chéng tiān sì xún zhāng huái mín.
Thinking there was nobody with whom to enjoy it, I went to Chengtian Temple to find Zhang Huaimin.
怀民亦未寝，相与步于中庭。 huái mín yì wèi qǐn, xiāng yǔ bù yú zhōng tíng.
Huaimin had not gone to bed either, and together we walked in the courtyard.
庭下如积水空明，水中藻、荇交横，盖竹柏影也。 tíng xià rú jī shuǐ kōng míng, shuǐ zhōng zǎo, xìng jiāo héng, gài zhú bǎi yǐng yě.
The courtyard looked like a pool of clear, bright water, with water plants crossing through it; they were the shadows of bamboo and cypress.
何夜无月？ hé yè wú yuè?
What night has no moon?
何处无竹柏？ hé chù wú zhú bǎi?
What place has no bamboo or cypress?
但少闲人如吾两人者耳。 dàn shǎo xián rén rú wú liǎng rén zhě ěr.
There are simply few people with leisure like the two of us.