岳阳楼记 A Record of Yueyang Tower

庆历四年春，滕子京谪守巴陵郡。 qìng lì sì nián chūn, téng zǐ jīng zhé shǒu bā líng jùn.
In the spring of the fourth year of Qingli, Teng Zijing was demoted to govern Baling prefecture.

越明年，政通人和，百废具兴。 yuè míng nián, zhèng tōng rén hé, bǎi fèi jù xīng.
By the following year government ran smoothly, the people were at peace, and everything that had fallen into neglect was restored.

乃重修岳阳楼，增其旧制，刻唐贤今人诗赋于其上，属予作文以记之。 nǎi chóng xiū yuè yáng lóu, zēng qí jiù zhì, kè táng xián jīn rén shī fù yú qí shàng, zhǔ yú zuò wén yǐ jì zhī.
So he rebuilt Yueyang Tower, enlarged its old plan, carved on it poems by Tang worthies and men of today, and asked me to write a piece recording it.

予观夫巴陵胜状，在洞庭一湖。 yú guān fú bā líng shèng zhuàng, zài dòng tíng yī hú.
As I see it, the finest sight of Baling lies in one lake, Dongting.

衔远山，吞长江，浩浩汤汤，横无际涯。 xián yuǎn shān, tūn cháng jiāng, hào hào shāng shāng, héng wú jì yá.
It holds distant mountains in its mouth and swallows the Yangtze, vast and surging, stretching away without a shore.

朝晖夕阴，气象万千。 zhāo huī xī yīn, qì xiàng wàn qiān.
Morning light and evening gloom: the scene has ten thousand moods.

此则岳阳楼之大观也，前人之述备矣。 cǐ zé yuè yáng lóu zhī dà guān yě, qián rén zhī shù bèi yǐ.
This is the grand view from Yueyang Tower, and earlier writers have described it fully.

然则北通巫峡，南极潇湘，迁客骚人，多会于此，览物之情，得无异乎？ rán zé běi tōng wū xiá, nán jí xiāo xiāng, qiān kè sāo rén, duō huì yú cǐ, lǎn wù zhī qíng, dé wú yì hū?
Yet since it opens north to the Wu Gorge and reaches south to the Xiao and Xiang, exiled officials and poets often gather here; can their feelings on seeing it fail to differ?

若夫淫雨霏霏，连月不开，阴风怒号，浊浪排空； ruò fú yín yǔ fēi fēi, lián yuè bù kāi, yīn fēng nù háo, zhuó làng pái kōng;
When the rain falls and falls for months without a break, when a bitter wind howls and muddy waves heave at the sky;

日星隐曜，山岳潜形；商旅不行，樯倾楫摧； rì xīng yǐn yào, shān yuè qián xíng; shāng lǚ bù xíng, qiáng qīng jí cuī;
when sun and stars hide their light and the mountains sink from sight, when merchants and travellers cannot move and masts lean and oars snap;

薄暮冥冥，虎啸猿啼。 bó mù míng míng, hǔ xiào yuán tí.
when dusk comes down dark, with tigers roaring and gibbons crying;

登斯楼也，则有去国怀乡，忧谗畏讥，满目萧然，感极而悲者矣。 dēng sī lóu yě, zé yǒu qù guó huái xiāng, yōu chán wèi jī, mǎn mù xiāo rán, gǎn jí ér bēi zhě yǐ.
then whoever climbs this tower feels the capital far behind and home far away, fears slander and dreads mockery, sees only desolation, and is moved to the depths of grief.

至若春和景明，波澜不惊，上下天光，一碧万顷； zhì ruò chūn hé jǐng míng, bō lán bù jīng, shàng xià tiān guāng, yī bì wàn qǐng;
But when spring is mild and the sunlight bright, when the waves lie still and sky and water share one light, a single green across ten thousand acres;

沙鸥翔集，锦鳞游泳，岸芷汀兰，郁郁青青。 shā ōu xiáng jí, jǐn lín yóu yǒng, àn zhǐ tīng lán, yù yù qīng qīng.
when gulls wheel and settle on the sand, brocaded fish swim by, and angelica on the banks and orchids on the shoals grow lush and green;

而或长烟一空，皓月千里，浮光跃金，静影沉璧，渔歌互答，此乐何极！ ér huò cháng yān yī kōng, hào yuè qiān lǐ, fú guāng yuè jīn, jìng yǐng chén bì, yú gē hù dá, cǐ lè hé jí!
or when the long mist clears from the whole sky and a bright moon shines a thousand miles, light dancing on the water like gold and the still reflection like a sunken disc of jade, while fishermen sing to one another, what joy could be greater!

登斯楼也，则有心旷神怡，宠辱偕忘，把酒临风，其喜洋洋者矣。 dēng sī lóu yě, zé yǒu xīn kuàng shén yí, chǒng rǔ xié wàng, bǎ jiǔ lín fēng, qí xǐ yáng yáng zhě yǐ.
then whoever climbs this tower feels the heart open and the spirit at ease, forgets favour and disgrace alike, and with a cup in hand facing the wind is filled with gladness.

嗟夫！予尝求古仁人之心，或异二者之为，何哉？ jiē fú! yú cháng qiú gǔ rén rén zhī xīn, huò yì èr zhě zhī wéi, hé zāi?
Ah! I have tried to understand the hearts of the good people of old, and they seem to have differed from both of these responses. Why?

不以物喜，不以己悲。 bù yǐ wù xǐ, bù yǐ jǐ bēi.
They were not made glad by things outside them, nor made sad by their own lot.

居庙堂之高，则忧其民；处江湖之远，则忧其君。 jū miào táng zhī gāo, zé yōu qí mín; chǔ jiāng hú zhī yuǎn, zé yōu qí jūn.
High at court, they worried for the people; far away among rivers and lakes, they worried for their ruler.

是进亦忧，退亦忧。然则何时而乐耶？ shì jìn yì yōu, tuì yì yōu. rán zé hé shí ér lè yé?
So they worried in office and worried out of it. When, then, were they ever happy?

其必曰“先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐”乎！ qí bì yuē “xiān tiān xià zhī yōu ér yōu, hòu tiān xià zhī lè ér lè” hū!
Surely they would answer, “Worry before the world worries, and rejoice only after the world rejoices.”

噫！微斯人，吾谁与归？ yī! wēi sī rén, wú shuí yǔ guī?
Ah! Were there no such people, whose company would I seek?

时六年九月十五日。 shí liù nián jiǔ yuè shí wǔ rì.
Written on the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the sixth year.