南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 赋 Fu rhapsody
小园赋·节选
Rhapsody on a Small Garden (Selection)
若夫一枝之上，巢父得安巢之所；
一壶之中，壶公有容身之地。
况乎管宁藜床，虽穿而可坐；
嵇康锻灶，既暖而堪眠。
岂必连闼洞房，南阳樊重之第；
绿墀青琐，西汉王根之宅。
余有数亩敝庐，寂寞人外，聊以拟伏腊，聊以避风霜。
虽复晏婴近市，不求朝夕之利；
潘岳面城，且适闲居之乐。
How much more with Guan Ning's couch of goosefoot wood, which, though worn through, could still be sat upon; or Ji Kang's forging stove, which, being already warm, was fit to sleep beside.
Must one then have linked doors and inner chambers, a mansion such as Fan Zhong's of Nanyang; green steps and blue-chained lattices, a residence such as Wang Gen's of the Western Han?
I have a few acres and a shabby cottage, solitary beyond the world of men, enough to see me through the summer and winter rites, enough to keep off wind and frost.
Though, like Yan Ying, I dwell near the market, I seek no profit morning or evening; and like Pan Yue, I face the city wall, and take my pleasure in a life of leisure.
Meaning
Upon a single branch Chaofu found a place to build his nest in peace; inside a single gourd the Gourd Master found room enough to hold his body. How much truer of Guan Ning's goosefoot couch, worn through with sitting yet still fit to sit on, or of Ji Kang's forging stove, warm enough to sleep beside. Must one really have deep chambers with door opening upon door, a mansion like Fan Zhong's of Nanyang, or green steps and blue-chained lattices, a great house like Wang Gen's of the Western Han? I have only a few acres and a broken-down cottage, standing in solitude beyond the world of men, enough to carry me through the summer and winter festivals, enough to shelter me from wind and frost. Even if, like Yan Ying, my house is close to the market, I seek no profit from morning to evening; and like Pan Yue facing the city wall, I simply take my pleasure in a life of leisure.
至于那一根树枝之上，是巢父得以安巢的地方；一只壶之中，是壶公得以容身的地界。何况管宁的藜木之床，虽已坐穿却仍可安坐；嵇康的打铁炉灶，既已温暖便堪安眠。难道定要那门户相连的深房，南阳樊重那样的府第；绿阶青琐，西汉王根那样的豪宅。我只有数亩破旧的草庐，寂寞于人境之外，姑且用来度过伏日腊日，姑且用来躲避风霜。纵使如晏婴宅近市朝，也不求朝夕之利；如潘岳面城而居，且享受闲居之乐。
Appreciation
Yu Xin spent his last decades detained in the north, and this selection from his Rhapsody on a Small Garden uses parallel prose to set the meanness of the garden against its sufficiency. It opens with a single branch and a single gourd, drawing on Chaofu and the Gourd Master to show how little space a body needs; then it sets Guan Ning's worn goosefoot couch beside Ji Kang's forging stove, taking the high-minded men of old as measures of himself. A sharp 'must one then' rejects the mansions of Fan Zhong and Wang Gen, so that the shabby cottage becomes the more companionable. At last he writes the garden plainly, a few acres beyond the world of men, and closes with Yan Ying and Pan Yue to state that he seeks no profit and is content with leisure. Allusions crowd, the parallelism is exact and the syntax turns freely, and beneath the leisure lies the ache of a man serving a foreign dynasty and longing for the country he lost.
【白话串讲】 庾信写自己的小园：“一枝之上，巢父得安巢之所”——鸟在一根枝上就能安家。他身在南朝却被迫留在北方，只能在一个小园里安放自己的乡愁。 【意象与手法】此节选以骈俪句式铺写小园之「陋」与「足」。起手「一枝」「一壶」用巢父、壶公典，以极小写容身之安；继以管宁藜床、嵇康锻灶对举，以古之高士自况；再以「岂必」一转，否定樊重、王根的华第，反衬敝庐之可亲；末以「余有数亩敝庐」实写，并以晏婴、潘岳典收束，点出「不求利」「且适闲居」之旨。用典密集、对仗精工、句法流转，色色入妙，典型体现了庾信后期「清新老成」的赋风。 【情感与主旨】庾信（513—581），南朝梁诗人，后出使西魏被留，历仕周隋，晚年羁旅北朝，乡关之思与身世之悲凝为《哀江南赋》《小园赋》等骈赋名篇。《小园赋》约作于北周时期，借写一方小园，抒发闲适表象下「龟言此地，鹤叹当年」的故国之痛与屈身异代的自伤。此节选写小园简陋足以容身，以古隐士自况，实则以「小」写「大」、以闲写哀。 【名句点睛】高考文言/赋类选段常考此赋。命题：①概括小园「陋」在何处、作者为何「足」（安贫乐道、以古隐士自况）；②分析密集用典（巢父、壶公、管宁、嵇康、樊重、王根、晏婴、潘岳）的论证作用；③骈赋对仗与句法之美。
Background
Yu Xin (513-581) was a poet of the Liang dynasty in the south who was later sent as envoy to the Western Wei and detained there, serving in turn under the Zhou and the Sui; in his old age he lived far from home in the north, and his longing for his native region and his grief at his own fate crystallised into such famous parallel rhapsodies as the Lament for the South and the Rhapsody on a Small Garden. The Rhapsody on a Small Garden was written about the Northern Zhou period; through a single small garden it expresses, beneath the surface ease of dew falling among the paulownias and wind coming under the willows, the pain for a lost country and the self-reproach of a man bent to serve another age. This selection describes a garden plain enough yet sufficient to hold a body and compares the writer with the recluses of antiquity; in truth it writes the great through the small and grief through leisure, and is a model of the parallel prose that was said to exhaust the excellences of both north and south.
庾信（513—581），字子山，南阳新野人，南朝梁诗人、辞赋家。其早年仕梁，出入宫廷，与徐陵同为宫体诗代表，世称徐庾体；梁元帝承圣三年（554）出使西魏，值西魏攻陷江陵，遂被留北朝，历仕西魏、北周，官至骠骑大将军、开府仪同三司，世称庾开府。其晚年羁旅北朝，虽位望通显而心系江南，乡关之思与屈身异代的自伤，凝为《哀江南赋》《小园赋》等骈赋名篇，风格亦由早期的绮艳转为后期的「清新老成」。《小园赋》约作于北周初年，借写一方小园，于「桐间露落，柳下风来」的闲适表象之下，寄「龟言此地之寒，鹤讶今年之雪」的故国之痛。此节选写小园简陋足以容身，以古隐士自况，实则以「小」写「大」、以闲写哀——越是自足自适，越见其屈身异代、有家难归的沉痛，是其「穷南北之胜」的骈文典范。此赋的创作，正值庾信任北周期间，虽位至开府，然羁臣之痛未已，故于园居之乐中，时时流露出「岂知灞陵夜猎，犹是故时将军」的身世之感；小园之赋，实为其晚年心境的缩影，亦是研究北朝文人与南朝文人心态差异的重要文本。
Art
The selection uses parallel couplets to set out both the meanness and the sufficiency of the small garden. It opens with a single branch and a single gourd, drawing on Chaofu and the Gourd Master to write the peace of a body that needs little room. It goes on to pair Guan Ning's goosefoot couch with Ji Kang's forging stove, taking the high-minded men of old as measures of the self. Then a turn on 'must one then' denies the splendid houses of Fan Zhong and Wang Gen, so that the shabby cottage seems the more companionable. At the end 'I have a few acres and a shabby cottage' states the fact plainly, and the allusions to Yan Ying and Pan Yue close the passage by pointing to the seeking of no profit and the enjoyment of leisure. The allusions are dense, the parallelism finely worked and the syntax fluent, every part apt, and the whole typically embodies the fresh yet fully matured manner of Yu Xin's later rhapsodies.
此节选以骈俪句式铺写小园之「陋」与「足」，章法细密：起手「一枝」「一壶」用巢父、壶公典，以极小写容身之安——一枝可巢、一壶可居，容身之需本不在大；继以管宁藜床、嵇康锻灶对举，以古之高士自况，床穿可坐、灶暖堪眠，俭朴之中见风骨；再以「岂必」一转，否定南阳樊重、西汉王根的华第——连闼洞房、绿墀青琐的豪奢，非所愿也，反衬敝庐之可亲；末以「余有数亩敝庐」实写，由典入实，并以晏婴近市不求利、潘岳面城适闲居收束，点出「不求利」「且适闲居」之旨。全文用典密集而一线贯穿（安贫乐道），对仗精工而句法流转，四六相间，色色入妙，典型体现了庾信后期骈赋「清新老成」的艺术境界。全节选以「小」与「足」为核心，展开层层对照：以巢父壶公之极小与容身之安相对，以管宁嵇康之贫与自得之乐相对，以樊重王根之豪与敝庐之朴相对，以晏婴潘岳之近市面城与不求利、适闲居相对，多重对照之中，安贫乐道之旨愈显愈明，骈赋之体亦因此有了议论的骨架与理致的光彩。
Allusions
There are seven allusions in all. Chaofu was a recluse of high antiquity and the Gourd Master the immortal met by Fei Changfang of the Eastern Han, both used for the smallness of the space needed to house a body; Guan Ning's goosefoot couch refers to Guan Ning, who was poor and lay content, and Ji Kang's forging stove to Ji Kang, who supported himself by working iron; Fan Zhong of Nanyang was a great magnate of the Eastern Han and Wang Gen a consort-clan noble of the Western Han, both standing for splendid mansions; Yan Ying near the market comes from the Zuo Commentary, where Yanzi's house stood by the market yet he sought no profit; Pan Yue facing the city comes from his Rhapsody on Living in Leisure, which speaks of facing the suburbs with the market behind. Used sometimes affirmatively and sometimes by denial, they all gather on the single line of contentment in poverty and indifference to honour and gain, matching exactly Yu Xin's state of mind as a man detained in the north who longed to retire, and showing his skill in employing matter without leaving a trace.
此节选用典凡八处，皆围绕「安贫乐道、不慕荣利」一线。巢父为上古隐士，尧让天下而不受，构巢而居；壶公为东汉仙人（费长房所遇），常悬一壶于市，夜入壶中而眠——二人皆以极小之地容身，喻容身之小之安。管宁为汉末高士，坐藜床五十余年，床上当膝处皆穿，而安之若素；嵇康为魏晋名士，隐居锻铁自给，与向秀共锻大树之下——二典写贫而自得之高士风范。南阳樊重为东汉巨富，起庐舍皆重堂高阁；西汉王根为外戚，宅第壮丽，绿墀青琐——二典写豪门之奢，作否定之资。晏婴近市出《左传》昭公三年，晏子宅近市嚣尘，而曰「小人近市，朝夕得所求」，不求利也；潘岳面城出潘岳《闲居赋》「陪京泝伊，面郊后市」，写闲居之乐。诸典或正或反，皆密合庾信羁旅北朝而思归隐之心境，见其「使事无痕」之功。八典之中，巢父壶公属上古隐逸与神仙传说，管宁嵇康属汉魏高士，樊重王根属两汉豪贵，晏婴潘岳属春秋西晋人物，上下千年，旁及仙凡，而皆以「居处」一事贯穿，可见庾信腹笥之富与构思之密；用典而不为典所困，正是骈文大家的本色。
Commentary
Du Fu's line that Yu Xin's writing grew more accomplished with age, and that his soaring, vigorous brush ranged freely, catches the soul of Yu's rhapsodies best. Zhang Pu, in his Collected Works of a Hundred and Three Writers of Han, Wei and the Six Dynasties, said that his 'parallel writings exhaust the excellences of both north and south'. The Rhapsody on a Small Garden is named together with the Lament for the South, and Xu Lian of the Qing, in Pure Prose of the Six Dynasties, judged this passage 'content in poverty and glad in the way, exact in every phrase'. Modern scholars hold that his later rhapsodies show splendour and substance supporting each other with feeling and form both fully realised, and this selection, writing brooding thought with an easy and elegant brush, best displays that matured condition.
杜甫《戏为六绝句》「庾信文章老更成，凌云健笔意纵横」，最得庾赋之魂——老成者，谓其后期文章由绮艳归于沉雄老练，正指《小园赋》《哀江南赋》一类。张溥《汉魏六朝百三家集》谓其「骈俪之文，穷南北之胜」，以为庾信融汇南朝之丽与北朝之质，为六朝骈文之集大成。清人许梿《六朝文絜》选录此赋，评此节「安贫乐道，语语精切」。《小园赋》与《哀江南赋》并称：一写小园闲居之表象，一写故国哀思之实情，一婉一转，互为表里。近人论庾信，以为其后期赋「华实相扶，情文兼至」，此节选以闲雅之笔写沉郁之思，于安贫自足中暗藏身世之悲，最见「老成」境界，是中国骈赋由六朝绮丽走向隋唐律赋的关键之作。此赋在后世影响深远：唐代王勃《滕王阁序》、宋代苏轼《前赤壁赋》等骈散名篇，皆承其铺陈与抒情之法；清代骈文复兴，许梿、李兆洛诸家选录六朝骈文，必列此赋，其「清新老成」的风格成为骈文艺术的最高典范之一，是研究中国骈文发展史绕不开的里程碑。
Prosody
Line by line
若夫一枝之上，巢父得安巢之所；一壶之中，壶公有容身之地。
On a single branch, Chaofu found a place to settle his nest; inside a single pot, Hugong found room to dwell.
一根树枝之上，是巢父安巢之所；一只壶中，是壶公容身之地。
On a single branch, Chaofu found his nest; within a single pot, Hugong found a dwelling.
起笔用典，以极小写安适：巢父构巢于树、壶公栖身于壶，皆以极小的空间容身，而自得其安。此联以「一枝」「一壶」的极小对举「安巢」「容身」的实需，立论奇警——容身之所需者本不甚大，何必万间广厦？两句以隐士与仙人的典故起兴，把「小园虽陋而足以容身」的主旨以最经济的方式揭出，既见庾信用典之熟，亦为其后否定豪第、肯定敝庐张本，是全节选立论的总纲。
The branch. On a single branch, Chaofu found a place to settle his nest; inside a single pot, Hugong found room to dwell. The single-branch-Chaofu-nest and the single-pot-Hugong-dwell are the opening. To have found a place on a branch would be a finding; the on-a-single-branch-chaofu-found-a-place-to-settle-his-nest-inside-a-single-pot-hugong-found-room-to-dwell is the finding.
况乎管宁藜床，虽穿而可坐；嵇康锻灶，既暖而堪眠。
Moreover, Guan Ning's couch of thorns, though worn through, sufficed for sitting; Ji Kang's forge, once warm, sufficed for sleeping.
何况管宁的藜木之床，虽已坐穿却仍可安坐；嵇康的打铁炉灶，既已温暖便堪安眠。
Even more: Guan Ning's thorn couch, though worn through, he could sit on; Ji Kang's forge, once warm, he could sleep beside.
对举用典，见隐士之风：管宁坐藜床五十年，当膝处皆穿而安之若素；嵇康锻铁自给，灶暖之时偃卧其侧——床穿可坐、灶暖堪眠，物之陋者不碍身之安，身之安者全在心之足。两句以「况乎」递进，由上古隐士推及魏晋名士，古人能安于陋物，我何不能？以古之高士自况，风骨凛然，把首联「容身不必大」的道理落到具体的起居细节上，使议论有了生活的质感，是使事入化的妙笔。
The couch. Moreover, Guan Ning's couch of thorns, though worn through, sufficed for sitting; Ji Kang's forge, once warm, sufficed for sleeping. The Guan-Ning-thorn-couch-worn-through and the Ji-Kang-forge-warm-sleeping are the recluses. To have worn through the couch would be a wearing-through; the moreover-guan-ning's-couch-of-thorns-though-worn-through-sufficed-for-sitting-ji-kang's-forge-once-warm-sufficed-for-sleeping is the wearing-through.
岂必连闼洞房，南阳樊重之第；绿墀青琐，西汉王根之宅。
Must one have the double doors and inner chambers of Fan Chong's mansion in Nanyang; green steps and carved lintels of Wang Gen's Western Han house?
难道定要门户相连的深房，南阳樊重那样的府第；绿阶青琐，西汉王根那样的豪宅。
Must there be the connected doors and inner halls of Fan Chong's Nanyang mansion; green steps and carved lintels of Wang Gen's Western Han estate?
反诘否定奢靡，语气决然：樊重以巨富起连闼洞房之第，王根以外戚营绿墀青琐之宅，皆豪门奢宅之代表。「岂必」二字以反诘斩断对富贵的向往——何必定要如此华第？语气决然而有傲骨。此联承上文的安贫立论，以豪奢作反面衬托：不否定其存在，而否定其必要，一「岂必」之间，安贫之志、自足之心俱见。两句对仗精工，樊重王根、连闼绿墀、洞房青琐，工丽中见骈赋本色，亦见庾信虽羁旅北朝而气骨不折。
The mansions. Must one have the double doors and inner chambers of Fan Chong's mansion in Nanyang; green steps and carved lintels of Wang Gen's Western Han house? The double-doors-Fan-Chong-Nanyang and the green-steps-Wang-Gen-Han are the negation. To have required the mansions would be a requiring; the must-one-have-the-double-doors-and-inner-chambers-of-fan-chong's-mansion-in-nanyang-green-steps-and-carved-lintels-of-wang-gen's-western-han-house is the requiring.
余有数亩敝庐，寂寞人外，聊以拟伏腊，聊以避风霜。
I have a few mu of humble hut, lonely beyond the world; barely enough to mark the festivals, barely enough to shelter from wind and frost.
我只有数亩破旧的草庐，寂寞于人境之外，姑且用来度过伏日腊日，姑且用来躲避风霜。
I have a few mu of tumbledown hut, lonely beyond the world; barely enough to keep the festivals, barely enough to ward off wind and frost.
由典入实，收束闲居之旨：前文皆用古人之典立论，至此方落笔写自家之园——数亩敝庐、寂寞人外，园之小、地之偏、庐之陋，尽在数语之间。「聊以拟伏腊，聊以避风霜」连用两个「聊以」，姑且之意，见出无奈中的自适：不求华美，只求避风霜、度岁时，园之用止于此，而心之足亦止于此。两句以极平淡之语写极朴素之愿，于自足中暗含身世之悲——羁旅北朝之人，所求者不过一方避风霜之地而已，语愈淡而情愈深。
The hut. I have a few mu of humble hut, lonely beyond the world; barely enough to mark the festivals, barely enough to shelter from wind and frost. The few-mu-humble-hut-lonely-beyond-world and the barely-enough-mark-festivals-shelter-frost are the close. To have a few mu of hut would be a having; the i-have-a-few-mu-of-humble-hut-lonely-beyond-the-world-barely-enough-to-mark-the-festivals-barely-enough-to-shelter-from-wind-and-frost is the having.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both belong to Yu Xin's late works in the north, one writing leisure in a small garden and the other grief for a lost country, and together they show his brooding depth.
庾信《哀江南赋》「见钟鼎于金张，闻弦歌于许史……岂知灞陵夜猎，犹是故时将军」，以长篇骈赋历叙南朝兴亡与自身遭遇，哀江南之沦丧；《小园赋》以短篇抒情小赋写小园闲居之乐。两赋同出庾信晚年北朝之手而一哀一闲：哀江南赋是痛哭流涕的家国之痛，小园赋是强作自适的隐逸之思。然小园赋「桐间露落，柳下风来」的闲适之下，正藏着「龟言此地之寒」的故国之悲——以闲写哀、以乐写痛，恰是哀江南赋沉痛之情的另一种变奏。两赋对读，可全面把握庾信后期辞赋的情感世界与艺术成就。
洛神赋 Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luo 曹植 · 同属六朝骈赋名篇，题材情调对照 Different (same form of parallel rhapsody, different subject: one leisure, one a goddess)Both are famous parallel rhapsodies of the Six Dynasties; compare the difference of subject and of key.
曹植《洛神赋》「其形也，翩若惊鸿，婉若游龙」，以骈俪之笔写洛神之美与人神之恋，瑰丽浪漫；《小园赋》以骈俪之笔写小园之陋与闲居之安，冲淡萧散。两赋同为六朝骈赋名篇，而题材一神女一园林、情调一绮丽一清雅，可见骈赋体裁的包容性；曹赋以丽辞写幻想，庾赋以丽辞写日常，更见骈文从建安之华美到南北朝之老成的演变。庾信早年即学徐庾体（绮艳），后期转写小园闲居，正是其风格「老成」的标志。
归去来兮辞 The Return: Song of Going Home 陶渊明 · 同写安贫乐道、闲居归隐 Different (same theme: contentment in poverty, leisure and retirement)Both write the pleasure of retired leisure; compare rhapsody with song, and the Southern Dynasties with the Wei-Jin age.
陶渊明《归去来兮辞》「归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归……倚南窗以寄傲，审容膝之易安」，写弃官归田、审容膝之易安的闲居之乐；《小园赋》节选写数亩敝庐、聊以避风霜的安贫自足。两文同写隐逸闲居之趣，而体裁一辞一赋、时代一魏晋一南北朝：陶辞是归隐的宣言，欣然自得、飘逸旷达；庾赋是羁旅的自慰，安贫之中暗含身世之悲。同为「安贫乐道」，陶渊明出于本心之自然，庾信出于处境之无奈，比较两文，可见「隐逸」母题在不同处境下的不同内涵，及辞体与赋体的文体差异。