不管是哪里人，要理解中国人的思想来源，情感基础，必须先了解中国人讲的故事。
大部分古代中国人，都比较忙，要干很多农活，养家糊口，还要养国家军队。
他们习惯了把好故事，有用的故事，用成语来表达。成语，就是浓缩的故事。
听说，中国成语的1/10，来自两千年前的庄子，庄子绝对是中国人民的故事大王，我们实例为证：
鲲鹏展翅，鹏程万里，凌云之志，扶摇直上，一飞冲天，越俎代庖，吸风饮露，尘垢秕糠，劳而无功，大而无当，孟浪之言，不近人情，大相径庭，心智聋盲，等等，原创都是庄子。
而这些成语仅仅来自他的一篇文章，逍遥游。
我们就从逍遥游开始，看看外国人是怎样用英文表达的。
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1
In northern darkness there lives a fish called bright-posterity. This bright-prosperity is so huge that it stretches who knows how many thousand miles. When it changes into a bird, it’s called Two-Moon. This Two-Moon has a back spreading who knows how many thousand miles, and when it thunders up into flight its wings are like clouds hung clear across the sky. It churns up the sea and sets out on its migration to southern darkness, which is the lake of heaven.
北冥有鱼，其名为鲲。鲲之大，不知其几千里也。化而为鸟，其名为鹏。鹏之背，不知其几千里也；怒而飞，其翼若垂天之云。是鸟也，海运则将徙于南冥。南冥者，天池也。
Bright-posterity, 鲲
two-moon, 鹏
Hung, 原型，hang, 悬挂，
its wings are like clouds hung clear across the sky.
其翼若垂天之云，翻译得很到位。
When it thunders up into flight, its wings are like clouds hung clear across the sky.
窃以为，加一个逗号，更好。
Churn up, 翻起，搅动。
我也不知道，为什么鲲鹏对应的是那两个英文字。
2
Among the strange wonders recorded in the book of laughter and harmony, it says: “setting out for southern darkness, two-moon beats the water for three thousand miles, whirling up vast gale storms, then climbs ninety thousand miles on the wind. It flies on and on for six-months, and then it rests.”
齐谐者，志怪者也。谐之言曰：“鹏之徙于南冥也，水击三千里，搏扶摇而上者九万里。去以六月息者也。
齐谐，是一本书的名字。
古文的结构是一样的：杀人者，武松也。齐谐者，志怪也。
一本记录各种八卦怪事的书。
3
Heat waves shimmering, dust and ash and everything alive all buffeted among one another in air- and then it rests.
Such azure blue heavens…Are they really blue, or is it that they stretch away without end? Looking down from up there, Two-Moon sees the same thing.
It’s like piling up water: if the water isn’t deep, it can’t support larger boats. Pour a cup of water into a hollow on the floor, and a mustard seed makes a fine boat. But if you put the cup in, it’s stuck fast. The water’s shallow, so the boat’s large.
And piling up wind: if it isn’t deep, it can’t support huge wings. So it is that the Two-Moon needs ninety thousand miles of wind beneath it. That’s when it climbs the wind until its back lifts the blue heavens. That’s when it turns south and nothing can stop it.
野马般的游气，飞扬的游尘，以及活动的生物被风吹而飘动。天色蔚蓝苍茫，那是它的本色吗？它的高远是没有穷极的吗？大鹏往下看，也是一样的光景。
且夫水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力。覆杯水于坳堂之上，则芥为之舟；置杯焉则廫，水浅而舟大也。
风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力。故九万里，则风斯在下矣，而后乃今培风；背负青天而莫之夭閼者，而后乃今将图南。
用文学的语言，铺排：大舟要大水，大鹏要大风，否则，都没用的。
Shimmering,闪烁的
Buffeted , 被猛烈冲击。这里是描述各种物体被冲击的状态。
Azure, 蔚蓝的
Piling up, 积累，堆积起来。piling up water, piling up wind, 水之积，风之积，用同样的结构叙述同样的原理，排比加强效果。
另外，天色苍茫，那是它的本色吗？天外有天吗？大鹏往下看到的天，与我们看到的天一样吗？这几个问题，引起后代世界各地的哲学家的追问，至今，没有统一答案。
4
The cicada and fledgling dove laugh at it, saying: “if we put our minds to it, we can fly across to the elm or sandalwood. But some-times we don’t make it, and we just end up fluttering around on the ground. What good’s all this talk about ninety thousand miles heading south? ”
蝉和小鸠讥笑大鹏说：我尽力而飞，碰到榆树和檀树就停下来，有时飞不上去，跌落地面就是了，何必要飞九万里而往南海去呢？
5
If you go out into the country for the day, you can carry three meals and your belly’s still full when you come home. But if you are going to a hundred miles, you need to hull enough grain to stay the night. And if you are going a thousand miles, you’ll have to gather enough grain to last three months. So what do those two little creatures know?
如果你只是去郊外，带三餐饮食，等你回家时肚子还是饱的。去百里远的地方，要准备一宿的饮食；去千里之外，就要准备三个月的食物了。这两个小东西哪里知道这些事情？
6
A little wisdom can’t equal great wisdom. A short life can’t equal a great age. How do I know it’s like this? Dawn mushrooms never know the young and old moon.summer cicadas never know spring and autumn. This is what a short life means.
小知不及大知，小年不及大年。奚以知其然也？朝菌不知晦朔，蟪蛄不知春秋，此小年也。（待续）
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庄子的叙事风格，比较直白，在他所处的时代，他的基础知识是超前的。他只是平淡地讲述大家都知道但不一定注意到的一些生活常识。通过提醒，引起人们的思考。
Dawn mushrooms never know the young and old moon;
Summer cicadas never know spring and autumn.
外国人喜欢搞辩论，经常遇到理屈词穷的时候，他们会不会用庄子的这俩句，帮助自己自我安慰的同时，悄悄打击对手于无形呢？
夏天的虫子，怎么会理解什么叫冰呢？我没输，只是他们听不懂我的话，我懒得多说了，说赢了也没意思。儿子打老子。（：