Monday, January 21, 2019
This Generation
Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), "On Encountering Trouble," lines 89-96 (tr. Fusheng Wu):
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Truly this generation are cunning artificers,
They reject rules to fashion their own measurements.
They disregard ruled lines to follow their crooked fancies,
And to emulate in flattery is their only principle.
But I am sick and sad at heart and stand irresolute:
I alone am at loss in this generation.
Yet I would rather quickly die and meet dissolution,
Before I ever would consent to ape their behavior.
