My favorite story: 鱼之乐 (fish's happiness) Part I

From: 
庄子外篇，秋水

Original text:
  
庄子与惠子游于濠梁之上。庄子曰：“鲦鱼出游从容， 是鱼之乐也。”


惠子曰：“子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？”


庄子曰：“子非我，安知我不知鱼之乐？”


惠子曰：“我非子，固不知子矣；子固非鱼也，子之不知鱼之乐，全矣！”


庄子曰：“请循其本。子曰 ‘汝安知鱼乐’ 云者，既已知吾知之而问我。我知之濠上也。”


Pronunciation:
庄子外篇(waìpiān)，秋(qiū)水(shuǐ)
 

庄子(zhuāngzǐ )与(yǔ)惠子(huìzǐ )游(yóu)于(yú)濠梁(háoliáng)之(zhī)上(shàng)。庄子曰(yuē)：“鲦鱼(tiáoyú)出游(chūyóu)从容(cōngróng)， 是(shì)鱼之乐(lè)也(yě)。”


惠子曰：“子(zǐ )非(feī)鱼，安(ān)知(zhī)鱼之乐？”


庄子曰：“子非我(wǒ)，安知我不(bù)知鱼之乐？”


惠子曰：“我非子，固(gù)不知子矣(yǐ )；子固非鱼也(yě)，子之不知鱼之乐，全(quán)矣！”


庄子曰：“请(qǐng)循(xún)其(qí))本(běn)。子曰 ‘汝(rǔ)安知鱼乐’ 云(yún)者(zhě)，既(jì)已(yǐ )知吾(wú)知之而问我。我知之濠上也。”

This color font denotes deviation from the usual pronunciation.

Translation & vocab list in part II.

Ongoing vocab list

1st post & goal of project

Zhuangzi alone, amongst the many Chinese philosophers, appealed to me because of the humor and wittiness in the parables. Since I've been introduced to the original text in classical Chinese class in college, I have always wanted to read the complete texts and make a translation both in Chinese and in English, accompanied by the proper pronunciations. That way, I can revisit them anytime I like to reflect on the stories. All this has to be recorded somewhere so my work doesn't go to waste, so this blog is it. It might not be the ideal place to present and format the texts, but it's a start.

I will be combining several sources of material, a Chinese dictionary, a copy of 庄子说 (Zhuāngzĭ Shuō/Zhuangzi Said), and Chinese Text Project. I am using the 现代汉语词典 (Xiandai Hanyu Cidian/Modern Chinese Dictionary) published 1996 by 商务印书馆 (Shangwu Yinshu Guan) because it contains spellings and definitions for words used in the classical sense. I like Zhuangzi Shuo that my aunt bought me because it has Chinese translations of every parable. The website I found gives me a hint for the definitions and pronunciations of a lot of characters. Looking up Chinese words in a paper dictionary using radicals is a pain in the ass. Anyone who's tried it will tell you that. Any help is great.

I'm hoping to post one story every week. Some will be longer than others, so there might be multiple parts.