孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
求友
Wanting a Friend
|
北风临大海 坚冰临河面 下有大波澜 对之无由见 |
North wind leans against the big sea As solid ice covers the river's face. Below are the great breakers Against which there is no recourse. |
|
求友须在良 得良终相善 求友若非良 非良中道变 |
I want a friend but he must be good, Must be good for friendship's better ends. I want a friend and if he were not good That lack of good would distort the Way. |
|
欲知求友心 先把黄金炼 |
If you want to know the friend-seeking heart, Begin by refining pure gold. |
-- 孟郊
废话
Line 8 is more literally, "Not good, mid-road change" where road is one's own path upon the Way. Lack of goodness bends the road, at least as far as the journeyer is concerned. It could be that the north wind against the sea, a solid river, and the great breakers are metaphors now lost to us. Or Meng Jiao could just be standing on the cliffs in winter and wanting a friend. That the river is frozen puts him in the north. So this probably dates from his early officialdom years.