The weak can be terrible

because they try furiously to appear strong.

弱者也會變得可憎可怕，

因為他們瘋狂地想要顯得強大。

It is easy to make faces at the sun,

He is exposed by his own light in all directions.

沖太陽做鬼臉輕而易舉，

因為他暴露在自己的光輝里，

四面八方都沒有遮蔽。

The dew-drop knows the sun

only within its own tiny orb.

露珠對太陽的認識

囿于自身那個渺小的球體。

The world suffers most from the disinterested tyranny

of its well-wisher.

世界的最大災星

乃是好心人的無私暴政。

Beauty knows to say, "Enough,"

barbarism clamours for still more.

美懂得說：“夠了。”

粗鄙卻總是吵嚷著索取更多。

In its swelling pride

the bubble doubts the truth of the sea,

and laughs and bursts into emptiness.

懷著滿溢的自豪，

氣泡質(zhì)疑大海的真實，

它開口發(fā)笑，

迸裂成無物的空虛。

Your calumny against the great is impious,

it hurts yourself;

against the small it is mean,

for it hurts the victim.

對偉大者的誹謗全無敬意，

最終會傷害你自己；

對微賤者的誹謗流于卑鄙，

因為它置受害人于痛苦境地。

The cloud laughed at the rainbow

saying that it was an upstart

gaudy in its emptiness.

The rainbow calmly answered,

"I am as inevitably real as the sun himself."

云朵嘲笑彩虹，

說它是出身卑微的新貴，

華麗的外表下只有空虛。

彩虹平靜地回答：

“我的真實不容抹殺，

一如太陽本身。

The worm thinks it strange and foolish

that man does not eat his books.

在蠹魚看來，

人不吃自己的書籍

實在是愚蠢又離奇。

Open thy door to that which must go,

for the loss becomes unseemly when obstructed.

打開你的門，

要去的任它離去，

別用你的阻攔

讓失去變成粗鄙。