桃花源記

陶淵明

  晉太元中，武陵人捕魚為業，緣溪行，忘路之遠近。忽逢桃花林，夾岸數百步，中無雜樹，芳草鮮美，落英繽紛；漁人甚異之。復前行，欲窮其林。林盡水源，便得一山。山有小口，仿佛若有光，便舍船，從口入。初極狹，才通人；復行數十步，豁然開朗。土地平曠，屋舍儼然。有良田美池，桑竹之屬，阡陌交通，雞犬相聞。其中往來種作，男女衣著，悉如外人；黃發垂髫，并怡然自樂。見漁人，乃大驚，問所從來；具答之。便要還家，設酒、殺雞、作食。村中聞有此人，咸來問訊。自云：先世避秦時亂，率妻子邑人來此絕境，不復出焉；遂與外人間隔。問今是何世？乃不知有漢，無論魏、晉！此人一一為具言所聞，皆嘆惋。余人各復延至其家，皆出酒食，停數日，辭去。此中人語云：“不足為外人道。”

  既出，得其船，便扶向路，處處志之。及郡下，詣太守，說如此。太守即遣人隨其往，尋向所志，遂迷不復得路。南陽劉子驥，高尚士也，聞之，欣然規往，未果，尋病終。后遂無問津者。

The Peach colony

(translated by Lin Yutang 林語堂)

  During the reign of Taiyuan of Chin, there was a fisherman of Wuling. One day he was walking along a bank. After having gone a certain distance, he suddenly came upon a peach grove which extended along the bank for about a hundred yards. He noticed with surprise that the grove had a magic effect, so singularly free from the usual mingling of brushwood, while the beautifully grassy ground was covered with its rose petals. He went further to explore, and when he came to the end of the grove, he saw a spring which came from a cave in the hill, Having noticed that there seemed to be a weak light in the cave, he tied up his boat and decided to go in and explore. At first the opening was very narrow, barely wide enough for one person to go in. After a dozen steps, it opened into a flood of light. He saw before his eyes a wide, level valley, with houses and fields and farms. There were bamboos and mulberries; farmers were working and dogs and chickens were running about. The dresses of the men and women were like those of the outside world, and the old men and children appeared very happy and contented. They were greatly astonished to see the fisherman and asked him where he had come from. The fisherman told them and was invited to their homes, where wine was served and chicken was killed for dinner to entertain him. The villagers hearing of his coming all came to see him and to talk. They said that their ancestors had come here as refugees to escape from the tyranny of Tsin Shih-huang (builder of Great Wall) some six hundred years ago, and they had never left it. They were thus completely cut off from the world, and asked what was the ruling dynasty now. They had not even heard of the Han Dynasty (two centuries before to two centuries after Christ), not to speak of the Wei (third century A.D.) and the Chin (third and fourth centuries). The fisherman told them, which they heard with great amazement. Many of the other villagers then began to invite him to their homes by turn and feed him dinner and wine.After a few days, he took leave of them and left. The villagers begged him not to tell the people outside about their colony. 

  The man found his boat and came back, marking with signs the route he had followed. He went to the magistrate’s office and told the magistrate about it. The latter sent someone to go with him and find the place. They looked for the signs but got lost and could never find it again. Liu Tsechi of Nanyang was a great idealist. He heard of this story, and planned to go and find it, but was taken ill and died before he could fulfill his wish. Since then, no one has gone in search of this place.