SweetLemon

In old chinese
/ _% z1 i; s6 U& x( G《愛蓮說》周敦頤; e" y1 v1 _& [& E+ p

1 g( v+ H" f2 b" I  z水陸草木之花，可愛者甚蕃。晉陶淵明獨愛菊 ；自李唐來， 世人甚愛牡丹。予獨愛蓮之出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖 。中通外直，不蔓不枝，香遠益清，亭亭靜植，可遠觀而不可褻玩焉。5.39.217.77/ u' N/ ~7 v, D1 A. v
0 @' Y9 }5 |  D' N# \" `
予謂： 菊，花之隱逸者也；牡丹，花之富貴者也；蓮，花之君子者也。噫！菊之愛，陶後鮮有聞；蓮之愛，同予者何人；牡丹之愛，宜乎眾矣。
  R  M3 P: u" e5 ^+ e, K5.39.217.77( s# R7 ?3 c7 \3 E; m* n8 A
Translation to modern chinese" N( C, B( X" [7 v
水中、陸地的花兒，可愛的有很多。晉代的陶淵明只愛菊花。唐代以來，世人十分喜愛牡丹。我卻只愛蓮花，因為蓮花從污泥中生出卻沒有被污染，經過清水洗滌卻並不妖豔，中間通透，外形挺直，不牽牽連連，不枝枝節節的（不蔓不枝），香氣在遠處更加清幽，筆直潔淨地立在那裏，只能在遠處觀賞而不能拿在手裏玩弄。
3 u  z3 G! v0 @; K# I" N+ p* K: H; ~' q5.39.217.777 Z- l. R/ L. m( i# P$ w
我認為菊花是花中的隱士；牡丹是花中的富貴者；蓮花是花中的君子。唉！愛菊花的人，陶淵明之後很少再聽到。愛蓮花，像我這樣的還有誰呢？愛牡丹的人，該是很多了。' z0 G; W1 ~4 D6 A  M4 N' Z1 [! `
) b$ g1 \) G5 f  M. q7 |4 ~, l
English 公仔箱論壇7 g- q% U' A4 k! e% R% P/ e
There are many loveable flowers of grasses and trees both upon the water and on the land. In the Jin Dynasty, Tao Yuanming loved only the chrysanthemum. 5 ?8 f7 {. `# _) W
6 w: g" q2 u$ T/ @
From Li Tang Dynasty on, people of the world loved the peony very much. I especially love the lotus which grows out of the dirty mud but yet is clean, cleansed by the pure waters but not seductive; its center is void, the stem is straight; and has no creeping vines and branches; its fragrance is milder in the distance, its stem is erect, slim and clean; it is to be enjoyed from a distance but not too intimately. I say the chrysanthemum is like a recluse; while the peony is like a person of high position and wealth; whereas the lotus is like a gentleman. Alas! The love of chrysanthemum is seldom heard except for Tao Yuanming; where are the people who, like me, love the lotus? as for those who love peony, of course there are many!