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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

读书

Reading

陆游

Lu You

读书Reading 感怀Reflections on Life

归老宁无五亩园，读书本意在元元。
灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言。

To grow old at home — why, I could have five acres of garden;
But my reading has never had another purpose than the people.
In front of the lamp my eyes are no longer what they were,
And still I set myself two hundred thousand characters of fly-head small print.

Listen

Meaning

Retired at home, Lu You reminds himself that he could easily have existed on a small farm, but that he never read for any reason other than the welfare of the common people. He then speaks of his own condition: before the lamp his eyes are no longer as they were, and yet he still sets himself a daily task of twenty thousand characters of tiny print. The poem is a short statement of an old man's vocation, held in the plainest possible words.

归乡养老，哪里没有五亩田园，我读书的本意在于黎民百姓。灯前目力虽然不如从前，仍坚持每日研读蝇头小字两万言。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem sets a retired man's ironical situation — he has a garden and does not want one — and then states the purpose that has kept him at his books. [Structure] Two lines of definition, two lines of evidence; the first couplet says what reading is for, the second says why the poet cannot stop. [Imagery] Only two images occur: the lamp, and the small print before it. Both are inward, domestic and diminishing. [Turn] The word 'still' carries the whole weight of the last two lines: the poet describes his own decline only in order to show that the decline has not stopped the work. [Tone] The opening is almost a jeer at himself, and the plainness of the language is what allows the final image — twenty thousand characters of fly-head print — to be neither heroic nor sad.

【白话串讲】陆游写《读书》：“归老宁无五亩园，读书本意在元元”——“灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言”——他说读书本是为了百姓——灯下视力虽不如前，仍每天读蝇头小字两万字。【意象与手法】此诗写读书的志趣与坚持，是陆游晚年读书诗的名篇。前两句「归老宁无五亩园，读书本意在元元」写归乡养老、读书本意为民——「归老宁无五亩园」写归老不需五亩田园，「读书本意在元元」点出读书的本意在于黎民百姓（元元即百姓），是千古名句；后两句「灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言」写年老仍坚持苦读——「灯前目力虽非昔」写灯前目力不如从前，「犹课蝇头二万言」写仍坚持研读蝇头小字两万言，写尽苦读的坚持。全诗以朴素的语言写读书的志趣与坚持，正是陆游「老骥伏枥」精神的体现。【情感与主旨】此诗约作于陆游晚年退居山阴（今浙江绍兴）故乡时。陆游一生力主抗金北伐，然壮志难酬，晚年退居故乡山阴，读书著述。此诗写其归老故乡后仍坚持读书的志趣——「归老宁无五亩园」写归老故乡，不需五亩田园；「读书本意在元元」点出读书的本意在于黎民百姓，写其读书不为名利，而为民生；「灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言」写年老目力衰退，仍坚持每日研读两万言的蝇头小字，写尽读书的坚持。全诗以读书写志趣，寄寓了陆游退居后仍心系民生的情怀。【名句点睛】常考「读书本意在元元」点出读书为民之本意；「归老宁无五亩园」写归隐之志与读书之趣；「灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言」写年老苦读的坚持；以及全诗朴素自然、以读书写志趣与民生情怀的诗风。

Background

Lu You (1125–1210) spent his last years withdrawn at Shan Yin in Zhejiang, the native place of his family, after a life of office refused and schemes unfulfilled. He was born into a scholarly family, and he wrote some nine thousand poems over sixty years, a record of output that is itself an argument for this poem. The poem dates from those later years at home, when reading was not a study but a moral vocation, and when his eyes, like those of every old man, were failing.

此诗约作于陆游晚年退居山阴（今浙江绍兴）故乡时。陆游（1125—1210），字务观，号放翁，越州山阴（今浙江绍兴）人，南宋伟大的爱国诗人。陆游一生力主抗金北伐，然屡遭排挤，壮志难酬，晚年退居故乡山阴，读书著述。陆游生于诗书之家，自幼好学，一生勤于读书写作，其「六十年间万首诗」，正是其勤学苦读的成果。此诗写其归老故乡后仍坚持读书的志趣——「归老宁无五亩园」写归老故乡，不需五亩田园（宁，岂；宁无，岂无），写其不以田园为念；「读书本意在元元」点出读书的本意在于黎民百姓（元元即庶民、百姓），写其读书不为名利，而为民生；「灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言」写年老目力衰退，仍坚持每日研读两万言的蝇头小字（课，研习、诵读），写尽读书的坚持。陆游晚年退居故乡，仍心系国事、心系民生，此诗正以读书写其退居后仍不废读书、心系民生的情怀，是理解陆游晚年精神世界的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's real device is the self-irony of the opening, which asks whether a retired man really needs five acres and answers that he has chosen reading instead — so that the reader learns the poet's priorities before he is told them. The second couplet is a piece of concrete reporting used as proof: eyes no longer what they were is a fact of old age, and the twenty thousand characters are the reply to it. yingtou, the poet's own word for the print, small enough to be flies' heads, and the number is absurdly exact, which is what makes the line funny instead of piteous. There is no ornament in the poem at all, and in Lu You's hands this was the most demanding style available.

此诗的艺术特色可从三个方面解析。其一，以设问写志趣的起笔。首句「归老宁无五亩园」以设问写归老故乡——「归老」写归乡养老，「宁无五亩园」以反问写岂无五亩田园，写其归老不恋田园、唯以读书为念；「读书本意在元元」顺势点出读书的本意在于百姓，一设一问，点出志趣。其二，以对比写为民。「本意在元元」与「归老宁无五亩园」的对比——归老可以没有田园，读书却本意为民，写其读书不为己而为民，志趣高远。其三，以细节写坚持。「灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言」写年老目力衰退，仍坚持每日研读两万言的蝇头小字——「目力虽非昔」写目力不如从前，「犹课蝇头二万言」以「犹」字写仍坚持，以「蝇头二万言」的具体数量写读书之多，写尽苦读的坚持。四重手法，使此诗以朴素的语言写读书的志趣与坚持，正是陆游「老骥伏枥，志在千里」精神的体现。尤其值得注意者，「犹课蝇头二万言」以数目字写苦读——「蝇头」写字之小，正见读书之细；「二万言」写量之大，正见读书之多；小字两万言，是晚年目力衰退仍坚持的读书量，诗人以此自励，也以此示人，其老而弥坚的执着，溢于言表。全诗四句，前两句言志、后两句言情，言志则光明磊落，言情则真切动人，朴素的字句间自有一股书卷气与志士气。

Allusions

'Five acres of garden' recalls the classic retirement of 'five acres of land' in Mencius and the whole tradition of the farmer-gentleman; the poet's question is whether that would satisfy him. 'The people' is the polite term for the common people, drawn from the'entirely common' language of the Han histories, and its use here gives the poet's reading a public purpose. yingtou, the head of a fly, is the conventional image for the smallest possible print, and it belongs to the vocabulary of scholars. 'Still I set myself' echoes the whole tradition of the study as a daily exercise, in which the discipline is not the learning but the keeping of the appointment with the book.

此诗的用语深植于读书与为民的传统。「归老宁无五亩园」令人想到「归田园居」（陶渊明《归园田居》）的归隐传统，也令人想到「五亩之宅，树之以桑」（《孟子·梁惠王上》）的田园意象，更令人想到「不为五斗米折腰」的隐者风骨——陆游归老，不恋五亩田园，正见其不以田园为念；「读书本意在元元」令人想到「元元」即黎民百姓，令人想到「先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐」（范仲淹《岳阳楼记》）的为民情怀，也令人想到「致君尧舜上，再使风俗淳」（杜甫《奉赠韦左丞丈二十二韵》）的读书报国理想；「灯前目力虽非昔」令人想到「三更灯火五更鸡，正是男儿读书时」的苦读传统，也令人想到「白头搔更短」的老年意象；「犹课蝇头二万言」令人想到「蝇头小字」写字的意象，也令人想到「韦编三绝」的苦读传统，更令人想到「老骥伏枥，志在千里」（曹操《龟虽寿》）的老而弥坚。全诗化用归隐、为民、苦读、老而弥坚的传统意象，以读书写志趣，正是陆游「以书寄怀」的本领。

Commentary

Long ranked among Lu You's best poems on reading and as a summary of his late-in-life spirit. Qing readers commented on the poem's 'plain and yet more true' language. Modern readers single out the second line, in which reading is given a political purpose, and the last, in which old age is met with a quota. The poem's special quality is its refusal of both pieties available to an old scholar: it neither recommends retirement nor laments his decline, but insists on a task. For a modern reader, it is the clearest short statement in the tradition of reading as work rather than as consolation — and the poem's wit, which lies in the five acres it does not want, is what keeps it from becoming a sermon.

此诗历来被推为陆游读书诗的名篇，也是其晚年精神的写照。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以读书写志，朴而弥真」；近人更指出「读书本意在元元」点出读书为民的本意，是陆游读书诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以朴素的语言写尽读书的志趣与坚持——那归老不恋田园的淡泊，那读书本意为民的胸怀，那灯前目力虽衰的苍老，那犹课蝇头二万言的坚持，都写尽了这位「放翁」退居故乡后的精神世界；那「读书本意在元元」更写尽陆游读书不为己而为民的高尚情怀。此诗与陆游的《冬夜读书示子聿》（「古人学问无遗力」）同为读书诗的名篇，一写读书为民，一写读书教子；又与曹操《龟虽寿》「老骥伏枥」一脉相承，可见中国文人「老而好学」的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解陆游晚年精神世界的窗口，也是中国诗写读书的经典——那灯前蝇头的两万言，穿越千年，仍在诉说着一位爱国诗人退居后仍心系民生、勤学不辍的情怀。

Prosody

Form Chinese poetry — seven-character quatrain (Qi Yan Jue Ju)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Quatrain on the flat 'Yuan' rhyme: yuan, yan — both couplets rhyming, the long, open level tone of the rhyme giving the poem its unhurried pace押平声元韵（园、言），两联皆押韵，平韵悠长，正合志趣的悠长

Tone pattern A seven-character quatrain in four lines with the two couplets rhyming on the flat Yuan rhyme, in an even and unhurried rhythm.此诗为七言绝句，四句两联，起承转合分明。全诗平起平收，节奏平稳，于平易中见顿挫。

Reading note Four lines of seven characters, rhyming yuan and yan, both couplets on the same flat vowel, so the poem closes twice and then stops; there is no change of key and no shift of mood, and the flatness of the rhyme is exactly right for a poem about a fixed daily task. The lines are of even length and even stress, which is why the poem reads like a schedule rather than a song. Read the first couplet slowly and-level, the third with a slight drag on the eyes, and let the last line finish flat and firm.此诗为七言绝句，四句：前两句写志（归老宁无五亩园，读书本意在元元），后两句写行（灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言）。押平声元韵，韵脚「园、言」皆平声，悠长舒缓，正合志趣的悠长。全诗以朴素的语言写读书的志趣与坚持——首句以「归老宁无五亩园」的设问写归隐之志，次句「读书本意在元元」点出读书为民的本意，三句「灯前目力虽非昔」写年老的苍老，结句「犹课蝇头二万言」写苦读的坚持，起承转合，一气呵成。此诗最见陆游「平淡而有味」的诗风：语言如口语般自然，却于「本意在元元」的直陈与「犹课蝇头二万言」的细节中写尽志趣与坚持。诵读此诗，宜以平静的语调读前两句的志趣，以感慨的语调读「灯前目力虽非昔」的苍老，结句「犹课蝇头二万言」要读得坚定而有力，方能传达出陆游老而弥坚的读书精神。陆游绝句以「质朴情深」著称，此诗正是其晚年读书诗的典范。

Line by line

读书本意在元元

But my reading has never had another purpose than the people.

读书的本意在于黎民百姓。

The original purpose of reading lies in the common people.

此句是全诗的点题之笔，也是千古名句，点出读书为民的本意。「读书本意」写读书的本意——那「本意」写读书的初衷、根本目的，写读书不只是为了科举功名；「在元元」写在于黎民百姓——那「元元」即庶民、百姓，写读书的本意在于为百姓、为民生。这句的深意在于：它以「读书本意」与「在元元」的直陈，写尽陆游读书的高尚志趣——他读书不是为了功名利禄，而是为了黎民百姓，那「本意」写尽初衷，那「元元」写尽关怀；归老故乡的诗人，不恋田园，唯以读书为念，而读书的本意又在于百姓，那「本意」与「元元」的直陈，写尽陆游「位卑未敢忘忧国」的胸怀——即使退居故乡，读书仍为民生。若换作直说「读书是为了百姓」，则失其警策；唯以「本意在元元」的直陈点题，写尽读书为民的本意，也让此句成为全诗的点睛之笔与千古名句。「元元」指百姓，以「元元」代百姓，正见陆游心中念念不忘的是黎民苍生；而「本意」二字，更写尽读书的初心与归旨。

The line is Lu You's credo. The original purpose of reading lies in the common people. The word yuan-yun, the plain people, is deliberately humble; the word original purpose declares that this is where reading began and where it must end—not in success in the examinations, not in personal fame. The old man, retired to the country, sets this down as the whole point of a lifetime of study. To have said I read for the people would be a declaration; the blunt placement of the common people as the original purpose is the credo.

灯前目力虽非昔，犹课蝇头二万言

In front of the lamp my eyes are no longer what they were, and still I set myself two hundred thousand characters of small print.

灯前目力虽然不如从前，仍坚持每日研读蝇头小字两万言。

By the lamp, though my eyesight is not what it was, I still work through twenty thousand characters in fly-sized script.

此联写年老苦读的坚持，是全诗最见性情的一笔。「灯前目力虽非昔」写灯前目力不如从前——那「灯前」写灯下读书，那「目力虽非昔」写眼力已不如从前，写尽年老的苍老；「犹课蝇头二万言」写仍坚持研读蝇头小字两万言——那「犹课」写仍坚持研习诵读，那「蝇头二万言」写蝇头小字的两万言，写读书之多与坚持。这句的深意在于：它以「目力虽非昔」与「犹课蝇头二万言」的对照，写尽陆游老而弥坚的读书精神——眼力衰退了，却仍坚持每日研读蝇头小字两万言，那「虽非昔」写尽年老的衰颓，那「犹课」写尽坚持的可贵，「蝇头二万言」更以具体的数量写尽读书的勤苦；年老目衰而不废读书，正见陆游「老骥伏枥」的精神与对读书的执着。若换作直说「我老了还读书」，则失其具体与感人；唯以「目力虽非昔」与「犹课蝇头二万言」的对照写年老苦读，写尽老而弥坚的读书精神，也让此联成为全诗最感人、最见性情的一笔。

The evidence is the image. By the lamp, though my eyesight is not what it was, I still work through twenty thousand characters in fly-sized script. The contrast is the poem: eyes failing, script tiny, daily target twenty thousand characters. The word still carries the whole old man's stubbornness. The concrete numbers (fly-sized, twenty thousand) make the abstract diligence real. To have said I still read hard though my eyes were failing would be a statement; the twenty thousand fly-sized characters by the weak lamp are the diligence.

Study

Word focus

元元 In 'my reading has never had another purpose than the people,' yuanyuan means the common people, from the Han histories' phrase 'the common people, each getting what belongs to him'; the doubled word gives the phrase a formal, public weight, and it is the reason the poet can say his reading is not a private pleasure. (About 30 words) 「读书本意在元元」之「元元」是写民生关怀的关键字，一个「元元」写尽读书为民的本意。元元者，黎民、庶民也，出自《史记》「元元之民，各得其所」。陆游以「在元元」写读书本意，这个「元元」至少有双重意味：其一，写关怀之广——那「元元」写黎民百姓，那「元元」写尽对天下百姓的关怀，写读书不为己而为众；其二，写本意之高——那「元元」更是写读书的本意——读书是为了元元百姓，那「元元」写尽读书为民的高尚志趣。以「元元」写民生，正是陆游点题的枢纽——若换作「百姓」「生民」等词，则或失其古雅，或失其与《史记》的关联；唯「元元」二字，以古雅之词写黎民百姓，写尽读书为民的本意，也让「读书本意在元元」成为点出读书志趣的千古名句。

犹 In 'and still I set myself' — you means still, and carries the argument of the whole couplet: everything the first clause concedes is cancelled by this one character; it is a small word placed at the most important point in the poem. (About 30 words) 「犹课蝇头二万言」之「犹」字是写坚持的关键字，一个「犹」字写尽老而弥坚的读书精神。犹者，仍然、尚且也。陆游以「犹课」写年老读书，这个「犹」字至少有双重意味：其一，写坚持之不易——那「犹课」写仍坚持研读，那「犹」字写尽管目力衰退仍不放弃，写尽坚持的可贵；其二，写精神之弥坚——那「犹」字更是写精神——年老目衰，犹坚持课读，那「犹」字写尽老而弥坚、壮心不已的精神。以「犹」字写坚持，正是陆游写苦读的枢纽——若换作「仍」「尚」等字，则或失其与「虽非昔」的对照，或失其精神的力度；唯「犹」字，以一字写尽尽管年老目衰仍坚持课读的老而弥坚，与「目力虽非昔」的对照相合，写尽陆游对读书的执着，也让「犹课蝇头二万言」成为写老年苦读的名句。

读书