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唐 Tang · 文 Prose

小石潭记·版本二

The Record of the Little Stone Pool — Version Two

柳宗元

Liu Zongyuan

游记Theme 写景Scenery 名篇Theme

潭中鱼可百许头，皆若空游无所依。
日光下澈，影布石上，佁然不动；
俶尔远逝，往来翕忽，似与游者相乐。

The fish in the pool — about a hundred heads —
All seem to swim in the void, without anything to lean on.
The sunlight penetrates down through the clear water,
And their shadows fall on the stones,
Still and unmoving;
Then, suddenly, they dart far away,
Coming and going, swift and sudden,
As if they delighted with the wanderer.

Listen

Meaning

The famous passage on the fish of the Little Stone Pool, from the record of Liu Zongyuan's exile. The fish in the pool, about a hundred heads, all seem to swim in the void, without anything to lean on — the fish of the clear pool, swimming in the emptiness. The sunlight penetrates down through the clear water, and their shadows fall on the stones, still and unmoving; then, suddenly, they dart far away, coming and going, swift and sudden — as if they delighted with the wanderer. The passage is the pure observation of the fish: the swimming in the void, the shadows on the stones, and the sudden darting — the clarity of the water and the life of the fish.

潭中的鱼大约有一百来条，都好像在空中游动，没有什么依靠。阳光直射到潭底，鱼儿的影子映在石头上，呆呆地一动不动；忽然间又向远处游去，来来往往，轻快敏捷，好像在和游人互相逗乐。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The fish in the pool — about a hundred heads — all seem to swim in the void, without anything to lean on. The sunlight penetrates down through the clear water, and their shadows fall on the stones, still and unmoving; then, suddenly, they dart far away, coming and going, swift and sudden, as if they delighted with the wanderer. [Structure and Thought] The passage moves from the number and the swimming of the fish — the hundred heads, swimming in the void — through the stillness of the shadows on the stones, to the sudden darting and the delight of the wanderer. [Key Technique] The essay's art is the observation through the clarity: the fish seem to swim in the void — the water so clear that the swimming seems the emptiness — and the shadows on the stones prove the reality of the fish, still and then darting, the clarity and the life. [Emotional Tone] Clear, quiet, and delighted: the passage is the pure observation of the fish of the pool, the swimming in the void and the delight of the wanderer.

【白话串讲】柳宗元写《小石潭记》的鱼：“潭中鱼可百许头，皆若空游无所依”——鱼好像在空中游。“日光下澈，影布石上”——“俶尔远逝，往来翕忽”——“似与游者相乐”——他写小石潭的清冽与生机。【意象与手法】这是中国游记文学中写鱼的千古名段：「皆若空游无所依」从侧面写潭水之清，以鱼写水；「日光下澈，影布石上」以影衬水、以动写静；「佁然不动」与「俶尔远逝」动静相生，最后以「似与游者相乐」移情于物，物我交融。【情感与主旨】柳宗元被贬永州，寄情山水以遣愁怀；此段写游鱼之乐、仿佛与游者相乐，正是贬谪文人「以乐写哀」的笔法——越写鱼乐，越见人之孤寂，乐景与哀情互为表里。【名句点睛】「潭中鱼可百许头，皆若空游无所依」以七个字写尽潭水之清与鱼之自由，是唐宋游记中写鱼写水的巅峰之笔。

Background

Liu Zongyuan (773–819), the great master of the Tang prose, wrote 'The Record of the Little Stone Pool' in his exile to the south — one of his 'Records of the Eight Places of Yongzhou.' The pool is one of the places of the exile, and this passage on the fish is the most famous of the record: the fish of the clear pool, swimming in the void, the shadows on the stones, and the delight of the wanderer. The 'swimming in the void' is the famous image of the clarity, and the close — 'as if they delighted with the wanderer' — is the quiet joy of the exile in the natural scene.

《小石潭记》选自柳宗元《永州八记》，此节选为《小石潭记》的第三段，专写潭中之鱼。柳宗元（773—819），字子厚，河东（今山西永济）人，世称柳河东，唐代古文运动的主将，「唐宋八大家」之一。唐顺宗永贞元年（805），柳宗元参与王叔文领导的「永贞革新」，失败后被贬为永州司马——永州地处今湖南南部，在当时是偏远荒僻之地。柳宗元在永州贬所一住十年，抑郁愤懑，无以排遣，遂纵情山水，搜奇探幽，写下了以《始得西山宴游记》《钴鉧潭记》《小石潭记》等为代表的《永州八记》，开创了中国山水游记以「记」写「游」的新体式，把山水散文从六朝的重景物描摹推进到「山水与我」的深度交融。此段写潭鱼，看似单纯写景，实则寄寓深远：柳宗元以「鱼之乐」反观「己之寂」，鱼游无依而自得其乐，人处荒州而心有所依（山水），物我之间形成微妙的对照与慰藉。节选文字虽短，却是《永州八记》写景艺术最精粹的代表，也是柳宗元「凄神寒骨，悄怆幽邃」的贬谪心境在「乐景」中的曲折投影。

Art

The passage's art is the art of the observation through the clarity. The fish are given first: about a hundred heads, all seem to swim in the void, without anything to lean on — the swimming in the emptiness, the clarity of the water so perfect that the fish seem to hang in the void. The stillness follows: the sunlight penetrates down through the clear water, and their shadows fall on the stones, still and unmoving — the shadows proving the reality of the fish, the stillness of the light and the shadow. And the sudden life: then, suddenly, they dart far away, coming and going, swift and sudden — as if they delighted with the wanderer. The swimming in the void, the shadows on the stones, and the sudden darting — the clarity of the pool and the life of the fish, observed with the utmost purity.

此节选的文体是唐代山水游记（散体游记文），其艺术特色可括为「以鱼写水、动静相生、移情入物」三端。就「以鱼写水」言，写潭水之清而不直接写水，全从鱼落笔：「皆若空游无所依」——鱼像在空中游动而没有依凭，正是水至清至澄、几近透明，才使鱼仿佛无所依托，「空游」二字从鱼的视角写水的存在，是侧面描写（烘托）的典范；「日光下澈，影布石上」更以「影」证「清」——日影直透潭底，鱼影清晰可辨地布于石上，视觉的确定性正是水的透明度的证明，一层比一层深入。就「动静相生」言，「佁然不动」写鱼之静——呆呆地停住，如一幅静物画；「俶尔远逝」写鱼之动——忽然远窜，如疾矢离弦；「往来翕忽」写动中之快——来来往往、轻捷迅疾；静极而动、动极而收，动静相生，写尽了鱼群的鲜活情态，也暗写了观鱼者的目光追随之乐。就「移情入物」言，结句「似与游者相乐」以「似」字点破——鱼未必有意乐人，而观者心有戚戚，遂觉万物皆与己相乐，这是「以我观物，故物皆著我之色彩」的移情笔法，为下文「凄神寒骨，悄怆幽邃」的转折埋下伏笔，乐景之下暗藏哀情。

Allusions

The passage carries no learned allusion; its art is the plain observation. 'To swim in the void' (kong you) is the swimming of the fish in the emptiness — the image of the water's clarity; 'the shadows fall on the stones' (ying bu shi shang) is the proof of the fish's reality; 'still and unmoving' (yiran bu dong) is the stillness of the shadows; 'swift and sudden' (xi hu) is the sudden darting — the words of the observation, each exact.

此节选的文化意蕴，深植于中国文学「观鱼」的传统。其一是「鱼乐」母题：庄子与惠子濠梁之上「鲦鱼出游从容，是鱼之乐也」的著名辩论，是中国「观鱼」文化的源头——庄子以「我知鱼之乐」主张物我相通，柳宗元「似与游者相乐」正是这一「知鱼之乐」传统的隔代回响：他也从鱼的自在中读出「乐」，并以「似」字保留了庄子的那一层不确定性。其二是「鱼」的文学意象：鱼在中国文化中是自由与活力的象征，《诗经》「鱼潜在渊，或在于渚」以鱼写自由，《庄子》「相忘于江湖」以鱼喻逍遥；柳宗元写潭鱼「空游无所依」，既是实景，也暗喻一种无所挂碍的自由——这恰是被贬者所向往而不可得的境界，故「乐」中含「悲」。其三是「以小见大」的山水美学：柳宗元不写高山大川，独赏一汪小潭、一群游鱼，「小石潭」之「小」正是其「搜奇探幽」的审美取向——在至小至微处发现天地的生机，与王维「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」的禅意观照相通。其四是贬谪文学的「乐景写哀」传统：屈原《离骚》香草美人之托、杜甫「感时花溅泪」之移情，皆以景物写心境，柳宗元此段承此传统而更含蓄，把最深的孤独藏在最欢快的鱼乐之中。

Commentary

This passage is the most famous of the 'Records of the Eight Places of Yongzhou,' quoted for the purity of its observation. The fish swimming in the void and the shadows falling on the stones are among the most admired passages of the Tang prose. Critics praise the passage's clarity: the water's transparency made visible through the fish, and the quiet delight of the exile in the life of the pool.

《小石潭记》此段是中国山水游记中写鱼的绝唱，其价值在文学史上有三重意义。就文学史地位言，柳宗元《永州八记》确立了山水游记的独立文体——此前的山水文字多为地理志（《水经注》）或辞赋（谢灵运山水诗、谢朓山水诗），柳宗元则把「游」的经过、观景的体验、内心的感受熔为一炉，开创了「游记」一体；此段写鱼，正是其「以小景写大美」美学的最佳示范，被历代选家视为游记写景的最高典范。就艺术成就言，「皆若空游无所依」的侧面烘托、「佁然不动，俶尔远逝」的动静对照、「似与游者相乐」的移情入物，三笔皆臻化境，苏轼「柳子厚诗在陶渊明下，韦苏州上」的评价虽就诗言，而此段散文的造境之功，足与陶诗之澹远相颉颃。就思想价值言，此段是柳宗元贬谪心态最精微的记录——在「永贞革新」失败、政治生命终结的绝境中，他在一汪小潭里找到慰藉与自由，鱼之乐即其心之乐，鱼之无依即其身之无依，这种「以山水安顿灵魂」的方式，成为后世一切失意文人的精神出路，影响及于苏轼「惟江上之清风，与山间之明月」的超脱。此节选至今仍是中学语文的必读篇目，是中国人认识山水文学、认识柳宗元的第一扇窗口。

Prosody

Form Prose passage (youji), with the rhythm of the observation唐代山水游记（散体游记文）

Rhyme The passage is prose and does not rhyme; its rhythm is the rhythm of the observation — the swimming, the stillness, the darting.不押韵，以散句行文，而句式的长短参差自成节奏：以四字句为主（「日光下澈」「影布石上」「俶尔远逝」「往来翕忽」），间以长句（「皆若空游无所依」「似与游者相乐」），短句写景、长句抒情，节奏由静入动、由缓入疾，与鱼的情态变化同步。

Tone pattern The cadence is that of the observation: the even opening with the hundred fish swimming in the void, the still fall with the shadows on the stones, and the sudden rise with the darting and the delight.句式以四字句为主体，短促而节奏鲜明：写静用缓句（「佁然不动」四字一顿，如屏息凝神），写动用急句（「俶尔远逝，往来翕忽」八字连珠，如疾风掠水）；末以「似与游者相乐」长句收束，语气由紧张转为舒缓，如观鱼者长舒一口气、欣然会意，全文语调在静动之间流转，恰合观鱼的心跳。

Reading note The passage's sound matches its clarity: the even prose lists the fish and the swimming; the stillness — 'yiran budong' — falls with the shadows; and the darting — 'chuer yuanshi, wanglai xi hu' — rises with the sudden life, 'si yu youzhe xiangle' falling with the quiet delight.此节选的音韵之美，在于「句式的长短节拍与鱼的情态变化丝丝入扣」。「潭中鱼可百许头」七字平起，如打开画卷，语调和缓；「皆若空游无所依」七字继之，「空游」二字轻轻托起，如鱼之悬游，节奏轻灵飘忽。至「日光下澈，影布石上，佁然不动」三句，句式陡然收紧——「日光下澈」四字一顿，「影布石上」四字再顿，「佁然不动」四字三顿，三个四字句如三记轻拍，把画面渐渐定格；「佁然不动」四字尤见声情之妙，「佁然」二字平缓低沉，如屏息，「不动」二字戛然而止，如时间凝固，静到极处。随即「俶尔远逝」四字破空而出——「俶尔」短促如惊，「远逝」拖长如逝，一收一放，恰写鱼群骤然远窜之态；「往来翕忽」四字更急，「往来」二字往复如穿梭，「翕忽」二字急促如扑腾，连读之下，仿佛能听见鱼尾拍水的声响。末句「似与游者相乐」七字舒缓收束，「似」字轻轻一顿，如若有所思；「相乐」二字拖长，如会心一笑，全段的声情由静入动、由动入缓，恰似一次完整的观鱼体验——屏息、凝神、惊动、释然。柳宗元以四字句为主干、长短句相间，使文章的节奏成为鱼群情态的听觉翻译，这种「以节奏写物态」的音韵艺术，是《永州八记》散文最精微的贡献，也是唐代古文「气盛言宜」主张在写景文中的极致体现。

Line by line

潭中鱼可百许头，皆若空游无所依。

The fish in the pool — about a hundred heads — all seem to swim in the void, without anything to lean on.

潭中的鱼大约有一百来条，都好像在空中游动，没有什么依靠。

The pool holds about a hundred fish, all swimming as if in air, with nothing beneath them.

此两句是写鱼的起笔，以「鱼」立景、以「空游」写水，是侧面描写的千古名笔。「潭中鱼可百许头」先写数量：「可」是「大约」，「百许头」是「百来条」——数目写得如此精确而又不肯说死，正见实景实记的游记笔法，鱼的成群、潭的丰盈俱在「百许头」三字之中。「皆若空游无所依」是全段之眼：「皆」写全体，「若」字最妙——不是「是」而是「若」，保留一分疑似，仿佛这些鱼真的不在水中而在空中；「空游」二字把水的清澈写到极致——水清到看不出水，鱼便如悬空而游；「无所依」三字更进一层——不但看不见水，连一点依托都没有，鱼群自由自在、无拘无束的情态如在目前。此句的高明在于：不写「水清」二字，而水的清明澄澈已透过「空游」的奇观逼人而来，是以鱼写水、以虚写实的典范；后世写水之清（如「游鱼细石，直视无碍」）皆未能出其右。

These two lines open the fish, setting the scene through fish and writing the water through empty swimming - the age-famous indirect brush. The pool holds about a hundred fish first gives the number: about means roughly, a hundred-odd heads - the count so precise yet refused to be nailed down, precisely the travelogue method of real record; the fish's shoal and the pool's fullness are all in about a hundred heads. All swimming as if in air, with nothing beneath them is the passage's eye: all writes the whole; as is exquisite - not is but as, keeping a grain of doubt, as if these fish truly moved in air rather than water. Empty swimming writes the water's clarity to the extreme - the water so clear it cannot be seen, the fish as if suspended in air; nothing beneath goes further - not only is the water invisible, not a trace of support; the shoal's free, untrammeled state as if before the eyes. The line's mastery: not writing clear water, yet the water's limpidity presses in through the wonder of empty swimming - the model of writing water through fish, the void through the solid; later writings of water's clarity never surpass it.

日光下澈，影布石上，佁然不动；

The sunlight penetrates down through the clear water, and their shadows fall on the stones, still and unmoving;

阳光直射到潭底，鱼儿的影子映在石头上，呆呆地一动不动。

Sunlight pierces to the bottom; their shadows spread on the stones, motionless as if frozen.

此句由鱼写影、由影写水，是「以影证清」的妙笔，也是动静对照的第一重。「日光下澈」写光之透——阳光直直地射透潭水，直到潭底，「澈」字既是光之澈，更是水之澈：水不澄明，光岂能直下？「影布石上」写影之现——鱼影清晰地投映在潭底石上，「布」字写影之展开、之完整，如画笔铺陈，鱼形毕现；日影与鱼影并存于石上，正是潭水至清的实证。「佁然不动」写静极之态：「佁然」训为痴呆貌（《说文》：「佁，痴貌」），此处写鱼停住不动、呆然若定，如凝滞于画中；一个「佁然」，把鱼群的静止写得憨态可掬。此句以光、影、石、鱼四物相叠，织成一幅明净到极致的静景图；而「静」写得愈足，下文「俶尔远逝」的「动」便愈见惊跳，动静之间，张力陡生，正是为写鱼之鲜活而预设的蓄势之笔。

This line writes shadow through fish, water through shadow - the exquisite stroke of proving clarity through shadow, the first fold of motion-stillness contrast. Sunlight pierces to the bottom writes light's penetration - sunlight shooting straight through the water to the bed; pierce is at once light's piercing and water's: were the water not limpid, how could light go straight down? Their shadows spread on the stones writes the shadow's appearance - fish shadows clearly cast on the bed stones; spread writes the shadow's unfolding, its completeness, as a painter lays it on, the fish forms fully present; sun shadow and fish shadow together on the stones is precisely the proof of the pool's extreme clarity. Motionless as if frozen writes the extreme stillness: frozen means vacant, fixed - here the fish stopped, motionless as if set, as if congealed in a painting; one frozen makes the shoal's stillness endearing. The line layers light, shadow, stone, fish into a stillness picture limpid to the extreme; the fuller the stillness, the more startling the sudden dart away below - tension born between motion and stillness, precisely the stored force for writing the fish's aliveness.

俶尔远逝，往来翕忽，似与游者相乐。

Then, suddenly, they dart far away, coming and going, swift and sudden, as if they delighted with the wanderer.

忽然间又向远处游去，来来往往，轻快敏捷，好像在和游人互相逗乐。

Suddenly they dart away, flashing to and fro, as if taking pleasure in the visitors.

此句由静入动，以鱼之嬉游写人之愉悦，是移情入物的点睛之笔。「俶尔远逝」写突发之动：「俶尔」训为忽然、倏忽之间，写鱼群仿佛受惊般骤然远窜，「远逝」二字写其去势之疾，一静一动，如镜头猛切；「往来翕忽」写穿梭之快：「往来」写其回环游动，「翕忽」训为轻快迅疾（「翕」为收拢、「忽」为迅疾），二字叠用，写鱼群来来往往、忽聚忽散、倏忽来去的动态，音节短促，恰合鱼游之迅捷。「似与游者相乐」是全段的收束与升华：「似」字若实若虚——鱼未必有心乐人，而在潭畔凝望已久的观者，已然从鱼的自由嬉游中感到了共鸣与慰藉，遂觉鱼亦乐我、我亦乐鱼；一个「乐」字，把物我的界限轻轻抹去，正是庄子「鱼之乐」的现代回响，也是柳宗元贬谪苦闷中难得的一刻欢愉。此句的深意还在于「乐」之短暂——越是写乐，越反衬出后文「凄神寒骨」的凄凉，乐景与哀情至此完成最含蓄的转换。

This line turns from stillness to motion, writing man's joy through the fish's play - the eye stroke of projecting feeling into things. Suddenly they dart away writes the abrupt motion: suddenly means in a flash, as if the shoal, startled, darted far off; away writes the speed of departure, one still one motion, like a camera's sharp cut. Flashing to and fro writes the shuttle's speed: to and fro their circling movement; flashing means light and swift - fold together, gathering and scattering, coming and going in a breath, the syllables short, matching the fish's speed. As if taking pleasure in the visitors is the passage's close and sublimation: as is at once real and unreal - the fish may have no heart for delighting man, yet the watcher gazing long by the pool has already felt resonance and comfort from the fish's free play, and so feels the fish delight in him, he in the fish; one joy gently erases the boundary between thing and self - precisely the modern echo of Zhuangzi's fish joy, and Liu Zongyuan's rare moment of delight within his exile's bitterness. The line's deeper meaning lies in joy's brevity: the more joy is written, the more it sets off the later spirit chilled, bones numbed - joyful scenery and sorrowful feeling complete their most reserved transformation.

Study

Word focus

空游 'To swim in the void' — the swimming of the fish in the emptiness, the image of the water's clarity. 「皆若空游无所依」之「空游」二字，是写潭水之清的千古奇笔，也是全段立景的根基。「空」训为空中、虚空，「游」为游动，「空游」即如在空中游动——水清至极，澄澈如无物，鱼便仿佛悬游于虚空之中。此二字之妙有三：其一，以虚写实——写水之清而不着一「清」字，全从鱼的错觉落笔，「空」是鱼的「视觉错误」，也是读者由此推知水清的证据，比直说「水尤清冽」更见功力；其二，以鱼写水——鱼是「实」、水是「虚」，实者空游、虚者自明，虚实相生，水的存在反而因「无」而被凸显，这正是侧面描写的极致；其三，暗含自由之意——「空游」的鱼无所依凭、无所挂碍，正与柳宗元「久为簪组累」的被缚处境相对照，鱼之「空游」即人之所羡，二字之中隐含着贬谪者的向往。后世写水清，多从此二字化出（如「游鱼空泳」），足见其影响之深。

佁然 'Still and unmoving' — the stillness of the shadows on the stones, the quiet of the light. 「佁然不动」之「佁然」二字，是写鱼之静的神来之笔。「佁」本为生僻字，训为痴呆貌（《说文》：「佁，痴貌」），「佁然」即呆愣愣的样子，柳宗元以之写鱼群停住不动的情态，憨态毕现。此二字之妙有三：其一，以「痴」写「静」——鱼停住时并非僵直死寂，而是呆头呆脑、憨态可掬，「佁然」写出的是「静」中的生气，静而不死、定而有神，比「寂然」「凝然」更多一分灵动；其二，以「形」写「神」——佁然之态仿佛能看见鱼眼微睁、鱼鳍轻扇、呆望着来人的模样，一个生僻字，把观鱼时最传神的瞬间定格；其三，与「俶尔远逝」形成极致的动静对照——「佁然」之静愈痴，「俶尔」之动愈疾，动静两极相映，鱼群的鲜活情态与观者的凝神注视俱在其中。此字之选，正见柳宗元炼字的功力：不用常字写常见之景，而取僻字传微妙之神，是「惟陈言之务去」的古文主张在散文中的实践。

翕忽 'Swift and sudden' — the coming and going, swift and sudden, the sudden life of the fish. 「往来翕忽」之「翕忽」二字，是写鱼之迅疾的妙笔，音节与义理俱佳。「翕」训为收拢、聚合（《诗经》「翕翕訿訿」），「忽」训为迅疾、倏忽，「翕忽」连用，写鱼群忽聚忽散、往来倏忽的动态——「翕」写聚拢之状、「忽」写迅疾之速，二字合观，恰是鱼群一聚一散、一隐一现的鲜活画面。此二字之妙有三：其一，以声写形——「翕忽」二字皆短促入声，读来如鱼尾急摆、水花轻溅，声音本身即传达出轻快敏捷之感，是「以声传神」的典范；其二，以聚散写自由——「往来」写其游动之频，「翕忽」写其聚散之速，鱼群无拘无束、倏忽来去的情态，正是「空游无所依」的自由形象的动态展开；其三，与「佁然」遥相呼应——佁然写静之痴、翕忽写动之疾，一动一静、一缓一疾，共同完成了鱼群「静如处子、动如脱兔」的立体刻画。此二字选得生新而不失自然，可见柳宗元兼取经籍字义（「翕」出《诗经》）与口语语感的炼字功夫。