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華歆王朗俱乘船避難 translation: Hua Xin and Wang Lang Fleeing by Boat

This is a translation and annotation of a short story from 世說新語 (A New Account of the Tales of the World), a fifth century Chinese text.

[](http://www.flickr.com/photos/14295108@N08/6250904177/)華歆、王朗俱乘船避難， Huá Xīn, Wáng Lǎng jù chéng chuán bìnàn, [Hua] [Xin], [Wang] [Lang] [together] [board] [boat] [escape] [hard] Hua Xin and Wang Lang together boarded a boat to flee from trouble;

有一人欲依附， Yǒu yī rén yù yīfù, [have] [one] [person] [want] [depend] [attach] there was someone who wanted to join them on the boat,

歆輒難之。 Xīn zhé nán zhī. [Xin] [at once] [problem] [it] but Hua Xin immediately found this problematic.

朗曰：“幸尚寬，何為不可？” Lǎng yuē: “Xìng shàng kuān, hé wéi bùkě?” [Lang] [say] [luck] [still] [broad] [what] [for] [not] [permit] Wang lang said: "Luckily we still have space, why not permit it?"

後賊追至， Hòu zéi zhuī zhì, [later] [rebel] [pursue] [arrive] Afterwards, the pursuing rebels caught up,

王欲舍所攜人。 wáng yù shě suǒ xié rén. [Wang] [want] [abandon] [that which] [bring along] [person] Wang Lang wanted to abandon the person they brought along,

歆曰：“本所以疑， Xīn yuē: “Běn suǒ yǐ yí, [Xin] [say] [originally] [that which] [take] [doubt] Hua Xin said: "At first I was hesitant because of this,

正為此耳。 zhèng wèi cǐ ěr. [just] [for] [this] [nothing more] precisely for this reason.

既已納其自托， Jì yǐ nà qí zì tuō, [since] [already] [accept] [his] [self] [trust] Since we have already accepted him in our trust,

寧可以急相棄邪？ ” Nìng kě yǐ jí xiāng qì xié? ” [rather] [can] [take] [urgent] [him] [abandon] [evil] would we rather, because of the crisis, abandon him?

遂攜拯如初。 Suì xié zhěng rúchū. [then] [bring along] [rescue] [as] [beginning] Then they brought him along and rescued him as they did at first.

世以此定華王之優劣。 Shì yǐ cǐ dìng huá wáng zhī yōuliè. [world] [take] [this] [decide] [Hua] [Wang] ['s] [good] [bad] People used this to judge the merit of Hua Xin and Wang Lang.

If you notice a mistake or disagree with the translation, please comment below to improve this resource.


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