雙語詩歌翻譯|《古代寓言·畫什么東西最難》

譯文：有人為齊王作畫，齊王問他：“畫什么最難？”他說：“狗、馬最難畫?！饼R王又問：“畫什么最容易？”他說：“畫鬼怪最容易。狗、馬是人們所熟悉的，早晚都出現(xiàn)在你面前，不可僅僅畫得相似而已，所以難畫;鬼怪是無形的，不會出現(xiàn)在人們面前，所以容易畫?！?br />寓意：胡編亂造，胡寫亂畫，這是最簡單的事；但要真正認(rèn)識客觀事物，并恰如其分地表現(xiàn)它，就不是一件容易事了。

《古代寓言·畫什么東西最難》

客有為齊王畫者，齊王問曰：“畫孰最難者？”曰：“犬馬最難?！薄笆胱钜渍?？”曰：“鬼魅最易?！狈蛉R，人所知也，旦暮罄于前，不可類也，故難；鬼神，無形者，不罄于前，幫易之也。
——《韓非子》

Painting Ghosts
There was an artist who worked for the prince of Qi.
"Tell me," said the prince, "What are the hardest things to paint?"
"Dogs, horses, and the like," replied the artist.
"What are the easiest?" asked the prince.
"Ghosts and monsters," the artist told him. "We all know dogs and horses and see them every day; but it is hard to make an exact likeness of them. That is why they are difficult subjects. But ghosts and monsters have no definite form, and no one has ever seen them; so they are easy to paint."
Han Fei Zi