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战国战国 · 文 Prose

逍遥游

Xiaoyaoyou: The Free Wanderer

庄子

Zhuangzi

名篇Famous Piece 诸子散文Philosophical Prose 哲理Philosophy

且夫水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力。
覆杯水于坳堂之上，则芥为之舟；
置杯焉则胶，水浅而舟大也。
风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力。
故九万里，则风斯在下矣。

And moreover, when the water that is gathered is not deep, it has no strength to carry a great boat.>
If you tip a cup of water on the level floor of a hall, a seed of the mustard plant can serve as a boat; but set a cup there and it sticks fast — the water is shallow and the boat is too big. When the wind that is gathered is not thick, it has no strength to carry a great wing.>
Therefore, only at ninety thousand li is the wind beneath it.

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Meaning

This short passage from the first chapter of the Zhuangzi argues that every great thing depends on a thickness it did not create. A boat needs deep water and a wing needs an abundance of wind; a cup of water on a hall floor is not small in itself, only shallow, and so it will not carry what the same water would carry in a river. The conclusion the chapter draws is the famous one: the roc can ride ninety thousand li only because the wind lies under it. Nothing consoles the reader here — the passage is a demonstration, not a comfort, and its point is that dependence is not a weakness but a condition.

况且，水积聚得不深，那么它就没有力量负载大船。倒一杯水在堂上的低洼处，那么一根小草就能当作船；放一只杯子在那里就胶着不能动，这是因为水太浅而船太大了。风积聚得不厚，那么它就没有力量负载巨大的翅膀。所以（大鹏）飞到九万里高空，是因为大风就在它的翅膀下面。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Zhuangzi puts two everyday experiments side by side. Water that is not deep will not bear a boat, so he tips a cup onto a hall floor and shows a seed afloat and a cup stuck. Wind that is not thick will not bear a wing, and so he concludes that the roc rides only because the wind is beneath it.[Structure] The argument is a triad: a general claim, a demonstration, and a conclusion drawn from an analogy. The two cases are worded so as to match exactly, and that matching is the whole engine of the passage.[Imagery] The images are tiny and ordinary — a cup of water, a mustard seed, a level hall floor — chosen so that no reader can feel the point is being smuggled in. The physical demonstration is the earliest experiment in Chinese thought.[Sentiment] There is no feeling in this passage at all, and that is the point. The reader is not invited to admire the roc; he is invited to notice that even the roc, the largest thing in the chapter, is held up by something it did not make. What the passage produces is a change of perspective, and the only emotion appropriate to it is the clearing of a confusion.

【白话串讲】庄子写《逍遥游》：“且夫水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力”——水不深，托不起大船。“风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力”——“故九万里，则风斯在下矣”——他讲大鹏要高飞九万里。【意象与手法】以比喻说理、以寓言立论：水负舟、风负翼两个日常喻体，层层类比、由物及人，逻辑严密而想象奇诡；句式上「之……也，则……」的排比回环，造成磅礴的论辩气势【情感与主旨】表面谈水的深浅、风的厚薄，实则是道家「积厚成势」的生存智慧——唯有修养深厚、蓄积充足，方能成就高远之志，暗含对浅薄浮躁世态的讽喻【名句点睛】「且夫水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力」以舟水之喻立论，化抽象为具象，是先秦论说文中比喻论证的经典范式

Background

The Zhuangzi, traditionally attributed to Zhuang Zhou (c. 369–286 BC), is the foundational text of later Daoism and is conventionally divided into an inner book of seven chapters, of which the first, the 'Free Wandering' (Xiaoyaoyou), is the manifesto. Its opening section presents the giant fish Kun and the roc Peng, and then, after the passage translated here, the turtledove and the little bird that mock them. The chapter's argument is that apparent freedom rests on conditions, and readers have disagreed ever since about whether it finally denies or affirms liberal action. This excerpt is the pivot between the fanciful beginning and the philosophical argument that follows.

庄子（约前369—前286），名周，战国时期宋国蒙人（今河南商丘一带），是继老子之后道家学派的代表人物，与老子并称「老庄」。《庄子》一书今存三十三篇，其中内篇七篇为庄子自著，《逍遥游》即内篇之首，也是全书纲领。《逍遥游》的主旨是追求精神的绝对自由——「逍遥」即无所待、无所累的悠然自得之境，「游」即精神的遨游。庄子生活的战国时代，兼并战争愈演愈烈，诸侯争霸、百家争鸣，士人或奔走游说以求闻达，或皓首穷经以博功名，无不「有所待」；庄子则以冷眼观世，认为汲汲于功名、荣辱、生死皆是束缚，唯有「无己、无功、无名」方能逍遥。此文开篇即写鲲化为鹏、鹏怒而飞、扶摇直上九万里，又以蜩与学鸠之讥笑作对比，层层递进，论证「大小之辨」与「有待无待」之理。本篇节选的「水之积也不厚」一段，正是全篇论证的枢纽：以大舟须深水、大翼须厚风为喻，说明一切宏大之物皆须深厚的凭借，为大鹏之所以能高飞与蜩鸠之所以不能远行，提供了物理与哲理的双重依据，也奠定了全篇「积厚」与「自由」的辩证关系。

Art

The passage is a piece of applied logic: it takes a claim about the world and shows it in a bench experiment. Several devices do the work. First, parallel construction — 'when the water that is gathered is not deep' is worded to match 'when the wind that is gathered is not thick,' so the reader hears an argument rather than two images. Second, the setting of an extreme in miniature: the hall floor is as flat as anything, and the cup of water that cannot do the work is not small, it is merely shallow. Third, the contrast pair 芥 and 杯, a seed and a cup, which differ in size so sharply that the outcome follows visibly. Fourth, the closing 故, which makes the roc's ninety thousand li follow from the wind rather than from the bird. The rhythm throughout is that of a proof.

此段为先秦诸子散文中的论说文，其艺术核心在「以比喻说理、以层递立论」。庄子不尚抽象概念的推演，而取日常生活与自然现象为喻，使玄奥的哲理显豁易晓。全段分两层：第一层以水负舟为喻——「水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力」，先立总论；继以「覆杯水于坳堂之上，则芥为之舟；置杯焉则胶」的具体演示：堂上低洼处的一杯水，浮得起一根芥草（因芥轻舟小），却胶住一只杯子（因水浅舟大），一正一反，把「积厚」之理演示得如在目前。第二层由水及风，以风负翼为喻——「风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力」，句式与首句遥相对偶、回环递进；末以「故九万里，则风斯在下矣」收束，点出大鹏能高飞九万里，正是凭借深厚之风的托举。结构上，两组比喻形成「类比—例证—结论」的严密论证链；修辞上，「之……也，则……」的假设句式两次回环，如双峰对峙，气势磅礴。最见庄子手段者，是以「芥为之舟」这类几乎荒诞的微物之喻写大舟大翼，以小见大、以微明著，正是《庄子》「寓言十九」风格的缩影——理在物中，物小理大。

Allusions

The mustard seed (芥) and the cup are ordinary objects of the Warring States household, and the demonstration is taken from the observ of the time; Zhuangzi's originality is in putting them to a philosophical use. The roc's ninety thousand li comes from the same chapter's account of the bird Peng rising from the north sea. The word 待, dependence or 'what is waited on,' is the term the rest of the chapter builds on, and it is the central idea of the whole 'Free Wandering' — that the seeming freedom of any creature is the result of something else holding it up. Later writers took the passage as a standard illustration of the Chinese scientific temper before science: it experiments, measures, and concludes.

此段虽短，却浓缩了庄子哲学与先秦文化的多重意蕴。其一，「负大舟」「负大翼」之喻，根于道家「积厚」与「贵大」的观念：老子《道德经》言「合抱之木，生于毫末；九层之台，起于累土」，强调积累之功；庄子则从物理角度论证「大」必须「厚」为基，把老子的修身处世智慧发展为宇宙论式的存在原理。其二，「九万里」遥承本篇开篇鲲鹏之象——大鹏「怒而飞，其翼若垂天之云」「抟扶摇而上者九万里」，节选之「故九万里，则风斯在下矣」正是对鹏飞意象的哲理注脚：鹏之高飞，非其自能，乃厚风所托；这一「有所待」的揭示，为后文「犹有所待」的转折预埋伏笔，最终推出「乘天地之正，而御六气之辩，以游无穷」的无待之境。其三，「御风」意象（全篇后文列子御风而行）与「乘奔御风」的仙道想象相通，见出先秦方术文化与道家超世理想的交融。其四，「坳堂」「芥舟」之喻开启了中国文学以微小物象演示宏大哲理的写法，后世苏轼《赤壁赋》「寄蜉蝣于天地，渺沧海之一粟」、李白「大鹏一日同风起」等，皆与庄子这一大小之辨的血脉相关。道家「物各有待、理贯积厚」的思想，正是华夏民族讲求厚积薄发、深蓄久养的文化基因之一。

Commentary

Commentators from the Jin dynasty onward have read this passage in two ways. One reading takes it as a proof that all things, however mighty, are bounded, and that only the sage who forgets himself is truly free; the other, closer to the wording, treats it as a reductio in which Zhuangzi shows that even the greatest thing is thereby shown to be unsupported, so that the reader is invited to doubt rather than to admire. Twentieth-century readers, especially those influenced by Zhang Taiyan and by the New Confucians, debated whether the chapter ends in Mysticism or in a quiet defence of effort. What is not in dispute is that the demonstration is the most rigorous passage in the book.

《逍遥游》是《庄子》全书的首篇，也是中国哲学散文中影响最巨的篇章之一，被誉为「天下第一奇文」。节选「水之积也不厚」一段，虽是全篇的一环，其价值却独立可观：它以最平易的比喻讲最深邃的哲理，成为「厚积薄发」思想最经典的文学表达。历代评价极高：晋代郭象为《庄子》作注，以「独化于玄冥之境」解逍遥，虽与庄子本旨有异，却使《逍遥游》成为玄学的重要文本；清代林云铭评《庄子》「篇篇皆用影写之法」，本篇以水舟、风翼为影，正是「影写」的范例。在思想史上，此段「积厚成势」的哲理被广泛转用：荀子《劝学》「积土成山，风雨兴焉；积水成渊，蛟龙生焉」明显取资于此；后世论学论政者，常以「水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力」警醒浮躁浅薄之士。在文学上，鲲鹏意象由《逍遥游》而成为中国士人高远志向的原型——李白《上李邕》「大鹏一日同风起，扶摇直上九万里」直用其语，苏轼、辛弃疾词中亦屡见鹏翼；毛泽东《念奴娇·鸟儿问答》「鲲鹏展翅，九万里」更使这一意象进入现代语境。从哲学到文学、从魏晋到当代，《逍遥游》的穿透力证明：真正伟大的思想文本，其片言只语也能化育千年。

Prosody

Form A philosophical passage in pre-Qin侵权责任 prose, in the manner of the argumentative essay, with no rhyming scheme.先秦诸子散文中的论说文（寓言体说理文）

Rhyme There is no rhyme at all; the passage belongs to the unrhymed spread of the诸子 essay, and its music comes from the repetition of the particles 之, 也 and 则 rather than from matching endings.此文不押韵，其气势来自句式的大规模回环与排比。「水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力」与「风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力」两句同构对偶，如双峰并峙；「之……也，则……」的句式三度回环，形成一波三折的论辩节奏；「则芥为之舟；置杯焉则胶」的短句对举，则如溪流急转，顿挫分明。长短相间、偶散互济，读来有排山倒海之势。

Tone pattern The tone is that of a demonstration: the first sentence opens with the corrective 且夫, is suspended on the 也, then lands on the 则. The sentences grow shorter in the middle of the passage and then extend again at the close, so that the rhythm traces the shape of the proof.全段语调雄辩而从容：以「且夫」发端，语气庄重；以「也」字提顿（水之积也不厚），语势蓄而后发；以「则」字推论（则其负大舟也无力），因果斩截；末以「故」字收束（故九万里，则风斯在下矣），论断笃定。整体如高屋建瓴，先设喻、再演示、后结论，层层逼近，读之令人信服。

Reading note The passage has the cadence of a proof rather than of a poem. Three particles carry it. 且夫 opens with a deliberate lift, as if the philosopher were raising a subject again after a digression; the 也 that follows each conditional clause holds the sentence in the air, so that the 则 which closes it falls like a thud. Two 'when... not... then...' constructions are repeated at the same length, and that exact repetition is what makes the reader hear a law instead of a picture. In the middle, the sentences break short — a sentence, a cup, and then three words — so the reading quickens nearly to a run, the way a demonstration quickens when the hands move. It closes on a long sentence, 'at ninety thousand li is the wind beneath it,' which draws out and settles. This is precisely the prosody of 以气运文 that later writers such as the Tongcheng masters called 因声求气: the rhythm is not decoration here, it is the argument itself.《逍遥游》的声情之美，在于「以气运文」：庄子的论辩不以辞藻胜，而以句式的排荡、语气的回环造成排山倒海的论势。节选段虽短，其节奏经营却极具匠心。开篇「且夫水之积也不厚」以「且夫」振起，三个「也」字（水之积也不厚、负大舟也无力、风之积也不厚）如三记鼓点，把语势一层层垫高；「则其负大舟也无力」「则其负大翼也无力」两个「则」字，如两柄铁锤，把因果敲得坚实；至「覆杯水于坳堂之上，则芥为之舟；置杯焉则胶，水浅而舟大也」，句式陡短，如水流遇石、激湍四溅，「芥为之舟」与「置杯焉则胶」的对比以短句排出，语速骤然加快，仿佛演示的动作本身；末句「故九万里，则风斯在下矣」以「故」字缓缓收拢，长句舒展，如大风徐来、鹏翼垂天，语势与内容完全同构。这种「以句式演哲理」的写法，是先秦散文声律艺术的巅峰——不押韵而自有节奏，不雕琢而自有气势，正是后世桐城派所谓「因声求气」的源头。清代刘熙载《艺概》评庄子之文「如云龙雾豹，出没隐见，变化无方」，节选此段虽短，其回环往复的句式与磅礴吞吐的气象，已足以窥见「变化无方」之一斑。

Line by line

且夫水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力。

And moreover, when the water that is gathered is not deep, it has no strength to carry a great boat.

况且，水积聚得不深，那么它就没有力量负载大船。

Moreover, if the water is not piled deep, it has no power to support a great boat.

这是全段的立论句，以水与舟的关系提出「积厚」这一核心命题。「且夫」二字是先秦论说文常见的发端语，意为「况且、再说」，表示在已有论述（本篇前文鲲鹏之象）基础上的推进。「水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力」采用「之……也，则……」的句式：「水之积」把「水积」这一动作名词化，「也」字停顿提顿，「不厚」点出症结，「则其负大舟也无力」推出后果——水浅则无力载大舟，因果分明、逻辑严密。这一句的深意不在物理而在哲理：水与舟的关系，实喻「积累与成就」「基础与高度」的关系。庄子以舟行水上这一人人皆知的常识立论，把「大」必有「厚」据的普遍原理讲得不容置疑，为下文「风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力」的类比提供了第一块基石。句式上舒缓而有分量，「也」字两度停顿，如蓄水待流，语势与「积厚」之意相表里，是先秦论说文「以气运理」的典范。

This line is the passage's thesis, raising the core proposition of 'deep heaping' through the relation of water and boat. The words 'moreover' the common opening of pre-Qin argumentative prose, meaning 'furthermore,' marking the advance on the foregoing (the kun-peng image earlier in the piece). 'If the water's heaping is not deep, it has no strength to bear a great boat' uses the 'the... then...' construction: 'water's heaping' nominalizing the action, the word 'it' pausing, 'not deep' naming the fault, 'then it has no strength to bear a great boat' drawing the consequence - shallow water cannot bear the great boat, cause and effect clear, the logic tight. The line's depth is not physical but philosophical: water and boat in truth image 'accumulation and achievement,' 'foundation and height.' Zhuangzi, arguing from the known common sense of a boat on water, makes the universal principle that 'the great' must rest on 'the deep' beyond doubt, laying the first cornerstone for the later 'if the wind's heaping is not deep, it has no strength to bear the great wings.' The syntax unhurried yet weighty, the word 'it' pausing twice, like water stored awaiting release, the tone matching the meaning of 'deep heaping,' the pre-Qin model of 'moving principle with breath.'

覆杯水于坳堂之上，则芥为之舟；置杯焉则胶，水浅而舟大也。

If you tip a cup of water on the level floor of a hall, a seed of the mustard plant can serve as a boat; but set a cup there and it sticks fast — the water is shallow and the boat is too big.

倒一杯水在堂上的低洼处，那么一根小草就能当作船；放一只杯子在那里就胶着不能动，这是因为水太浅而船太大了。

Spill a cup of water in a hollow on the hall floor, and a mustard seed floats as a boat; set a cup in it, and it sticks fast - the water is shallow and the 'boat' is too large.

这是全段最见庄子想象力的「思想实验」，以两个对照的情景演示「积厚」之理。「覆杯水于坳堂之上」设境：「覆」为倾倒，「坳堂」指堂屋地面上的低洼处，一杯水倾在其中，浅浅一洼——庄子特意选择「一杯水」与「坳堂」这一极小极微的场景，把「水浅」推到极端。「则芥为之舟」写奇迹：这么浅的水，居然能浮起一根芥草——「芥」是极轻极小的草芥，浅水足以承之，此谓「小舟配浅水」；「置杯焉则胶」随即反转：放一只杯子（比芥草大得多的「舟」）却胶着不动——「胶」字写杯底粘着泥水、寸步难行之状，形象而诙谐，此谓「大舟困浅水」。「水浅而舟大也」以因果判断收束，点明症结不在水（水还是那杯水），而在舟之大小。两组情景一成一败、对比鲜明，把「积厚」之理从抽象命题化为可视的实验，其妙在以微物演大理、以常识证玄理；而「芥为之舟」的奇思，更透出庄子「齐大小」的哲学底色——芥与舟本无定分，全看其所凭借的水之厚薄。

This is the passage's most imaginative 'thought experiment,' two contrasting scenes demonstrating the principle of 'deep heaping.' 'Pour a cup of water in a hollow of the hall floor' the setting: 'pour' the spilling, 'hollow of the hall floor' the dip in the hall's ground, a cup of water tipped there, a shallow pool - Zhuangzi choosing precisely the极小极微 scene of 'a cup of water' and 'the hall hollow,' pushing 'shallow water' to the extreme. 'And a straw will be a boat there' the marvel: in such shallow water, a mustard seed floats - 'mustard' the lightest, smallest straw, shallow water enough to bear it, this 'small boat for shallow water'; 'set a cup on it, and it sticks' the turn: set a cup (a far greater 'boat' than the straw) and it sticks fast - the word 'sticks' writing the cup-bottom glued in the mud, unable to move, vivid and witty, this 'great boat stranded in shallow water.' 'The water is shallow and the boat is great' closing in causal judgment, naming the fault not in the water (still that cup) but in the boat's size. The two scenes one success one failure, the contrast sharp, turning the principle of 'deep heaping' from abstract proposition into a visible experiment; its genius in using the minute to play the great, common sense to prove the dark principle; and the 'straw for a boat' conceit further showing Zhuangzi's philosophy of 'equalizing great and small' - straw and boat have no fixed rank, all depending on the depth of the water they rest on.

风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力。故九万里，则风斯在下矣。

When the wind that is gathered is not thick, it has no strength to carry a great wing. Therefore, only at ninety thousand li is the wind beneath it.

风积聚得不厚，那么它就没有力量负载巨大的翅膀。所以（大鹏）飞到九万里高空，是因为大风就在它的翅膀下面。

If the wind is not piled deep, it has no power to support the great wings. Therefore, at ninety thousand li, the wind is there beneath it.

此句由水及风，把「积厚」之理从水上之舟推广到空中之鹏，是全段的结论与升华。「风之积也不厚，则其负大翼也无力」句式与首句「水之积也不厚，则其负大舟也无力」完全对偶回环，仅「水」「舟」换成「风」「翼」——这种回环不是简单重复，而是由类比引出的普遍原理：凡「大」者（大舟、大翼）皆须「厚」者（深水、厚风）为据，水舟、风翼两个喻体互相印证，使「积厚」成为放之四海而皆准的定律。「故九万里，则风斯在下矣」以「故」字作结，呼应本篇开篇大鹏「抟扶摇而上者九万里」之象：「斯」为「就」，「在下」指厚风托于鹏翼之下——大鹏之所以能飞至九万里高空，正因九万里之下有足够深厚的风层承托。这一句的哲学深意在于「有所待」：大鹏虽大，仍须待风；其飞之高，恰证明其待之深。庄子以此为后文「犹有所待」的转折蓄势，最终指向「无待」的逍遥之境。由舟到翼、由水到风、由物理到哲理，层层递进，气象宏阔，是先秦散文以比喻建构体系的巅峰。

This line passes from water to wind, extending the principle of 'deep heaping' from the boat on water to the peng in air, the passage's conclusion and ascent. 'If the wind's heaping is not deep, it has no strength to bear the great wings' the sentence fully paired and looped with the first 'if the water's heaping is not deep, it has no strength to bear a great boat,' only 'water' and 'boat' changed to 'wind' and 'wings' - this loop is not simple repetition, but the universal principle drawn by analogy: all 'great' (great boat, great wings) must rest on the 'deep' (deep water, deep wind), the water-boat and wind-wing images proving each other, making 'deep heaping' a law everywhere valid. 'Therefore, at ninety thousand li, the wind is beneath it' closing with 'therefore,' answering the opening peng's 'whirlwind up ninety thousand li' image: 'then' meaning 'there,' 'beneath' the deep wind supporting the peng's wings below - the peng can fly to ninety thousand li precisely because below ninety thousand li lies a deep enough stratum of wind. The line's philosophical depth is 'dependence': the peng, however great, still depends on the wind; its high flight proves the depth of its dependence. Zhuangzi here primes the later turn of 'still dependent,' pointing at last to the carefree realm of 'no dependence.' From boat to wing, water to wind, physical to philosophical, layer on layer, the grand air, the peak of pre-Qin prose building a system by metaphor.

Study

Word focus

且夫 And moreover (且夫). 且 adds a step to what has been said, and 夫 is a particle that lifts the sentence into prominence; together they open the passage with a formal, deliberate 'furthermore,' as if resuming an argument. It is the standard opening of the pre-Qin argumentative essay and pushes the reader back from narrative to reasoning. 「且夫水之积也不厚」之「且夫」，是先秦论说文最典型的发端虚词，也是理解庄子论辩气势的入口。「且」为递进之词，意为「况且、再说」，表示在已有论述基础上的进一步申说；「夫」为发语词，无实义，起提挈全句、振起语势的作用。二字连用，形成「再说那……吧」的舒缓而郑重的语气，如鼓手击鼓前的「且住」，把读者的注意力从鲲鹏的奇幻叙事拉回到严密的哲理论证。庄子用「且夫」，妙在转折而不突兀：前文写鹏之怒飞，气势磅礴、想象奇诡，此处以「且夫」轻轻一收，转入平实的比喻说理，奇幻与平实之间无缝过渡，见出庄子行文「奇正相生」的手段。此词后来成为论说文的标准语式，荀子、韩非子乃至后世古文家皆承其法；而《逍遥游》中的「且夫」，还暗含一种居高临下的自信——仿佛作者早已洞悉天机，不过姑且设喻一辩耳。

坳堂 The hollow of a hall floor (坳堂). 坳 is a depression, 堂 the hall; the phrase names a shallow pit in a smooth floor, small enough that a cup of water poured into it will be a bare film. Zhuangzi chooses it precisely because it is the smallest possible amount of water and therefore the clearest case of a medium that is too thin. 「覆杯水于坳堂之上」之「坳堂」，是庄子为演示哲理而特设的微型场景，选词极具匠心。「坳」本指地面低洼之处，《广雅》释「坳」为「窊下也」，即凹下去的地方；「堂」为堂屋、厅堂，「坳堂」即堂屋地面上凹陷之处。二字连用，画出一个极具体的物理情境：平整的堂屋地面有一处低洼，把一杯水倒进去，只浅浅一汪——庄子有意选择「坳堂」而非「江河」「池塘」，正是要把「水浅」写到极致，以最小之「积」衬最大之「不足」。这个场景的妙处有二：其一，以日常生活之景演示宇宙之理，使玄奥的「积厚」说教变得触手可及，是中国思想史上最早、最成功的「思想实验」之一；其二，「坳堂」「杯水」「芥舟」这一组微小物象，透出庄子「齐物」的眼光——他既写大鹏之九万里，也写坳堂之杯水，大小在他眼中本是相对的，关键在于「所待」之厚薄。一个「坳」字，微物见大义，正是《庄子》「以小观大」哲学的缩影。

胶 Stuck, glued (胶). The word means the glutinous, so that the cup is not merely rested but held — passive, unable to move. It is chosen over words like 'stop' or 'float' because it gives the cup no intention of its own; the cup is a victim of the shallow water, which is exactly the condition of anything that lacks a thick enough foundation. 「置杯焉则胶」之「胶」字，是庄子比喻中最传神的一个动词，写尽了「大舟困浅水」的窘态。「胶」本义为黏性物质（如胶漆），引申为粘住、附着不动；此处写杯子放在坳堂浅水之中，杯底粘着泥水、进退不得之状。「胶」字之妙有三：其一，以「胶」写「不动」，比「止」「滞」等泛泛之词多了一层物性——杯子不是主动停下，而是被浅水「粘住」了，像胶一样牢牢黏着，这种「被动被困」的意味，正是「所待不足」者的处境；其二，「胶」字兼有诙谐感，杯子粘在浅浅一汪水里，画面滑稽可掬，庄子在庄重的哲理中注入幽默，使说理不再板滞；其三，「胶」与上句「芥为之舟」形成强烈反差——芥草轻浮而起，杯盏胶着而困，一「为舟」一「胶」，一成一败，把「水浅而舟大」的道理演示得淋漓尽致。后世「胶柱鼓瑟」「如胶似漆」等词皆用此意，而庄子以一「胶」字写物理困境兼喻人事窘态，正是其「寓言十九」的语言天才所在。

逍遥游