畫虎 林鈺堂 簡繁轉換 - 繁體

畫虎不肖反招嫌,格調流俗辱先賢;
莫謂傳記隨人撰,當思在天有怨言!

或謂傳記一事人人皆可著墨,孰不知用字遣詞之間,格調高低,題材佈局之中,品味所趨,即恐畫虎類犬之失。今人以剽竊文字,應酬俗套,匯為先賢之傳記,而不自知其短,直令在天者怨歎!


                     二○○一年元月廿八日
                     養和齋    於加州


Drawing Tiger Yutang Lin

Failure to draw a tiger properly would invite ridicule instead;
Style and tone of commonplace disgraces the elite deceased.
Lest it be claimed proper for biographies to be edited at will,
One should consider the complaints being piled up in heaven.

Comment:

Some suggested that, since for famous personages there are usually various biographies, people can write one at will. Nevertheless, how the words and phrases are put to set the tone and the style, what materials are included, and how they are arranged in the presentation to reveal the character and flavor, could easily lead to failure in achieving the proper goal. A famous Chinese proverb says, "Failure in drawing a tiger results in a likeness of a dog instead." A delicate matter should not be attempted by unskillful hands. Nowadays some would gather plagiarized materials and worldly social correspondences into a so-called biography for deceased personages, without reflecting on its shortcomings. Such exploitation would certainly invite complaints from the deceased in heaven.


Written in Chinese and translated on January 28, 2001
El Cerrito, California


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