第26章 洁常自污出 明每从暗生

Cleanliness often derives from dirt and brightness always from gloom.

粪虫[1]至秽，变为蝉而饮露于秋风；腐草无光，化为萤[2]而耀彩于夏月。因知洁常自污出，明每从晦生也。

中文注释

[1]粪虫：尘芥中所生的蛆虫。此处指蛴螬（金龟子的幼虫），古人认为蝉是从蛴螬演变而来的。

[2]化为萤：萤火虫产卵在水边的草根处，多半潜伏在土中，次年草蛹化为萤火虫。古人不明白其中原理，误以为萤火虫是由腐草变化而成。

今文解译

粪土里的蛆虫是最肮脏的东西，可一旦蜕变成蝉，它就能在秋风中啄饮洁净的甘露。腐烂的草垛黯然无光，可它孕育出的萤火虫却能在月色溶溶的夏夜里发出耀眼的光亮。由此可知，世上洁净的东西常常出自污秽，而光明的东西则每每形成于晦暗。

EngIish TransIation

There is none as filthy as the beetle waggling in muckheap,yet it sips pure dewdrops in the autumn wind after having transformed into a cicada.Lusterless are rotten weeds,yet the fireflies bred thereby glitter fluorescent light under the moon at summer night.These natural givens show that cleanliness usually derives from dirt and brightness from gloom.