序一
序一
张岱
张陶庵作《西湖梦寻》，以西湖园亭桃柳、箫鼓楼船皆残缺失次，故欲梦中寻之，以复当年旧观也。余独谓不然。余以西湖本质自妙，浓抹固佳，淡妆更好。湖中之繁华绮丽虽凋残已尽，而湖光山色未尝少动分毫，东坡所谓“晴光滟潋”“雨色涳濛”，故端然自在也。西湖向比西子，若楼台池馆，则西子之锦衣袨服也；嫩柳夭桃，则西子之歌喉舞态也。近日西子乃罢歌舞，去靓妆，拔簪珥，解衣盘礴，正当西子澡盆出浴之时，须看其冰肌玉骨，妖冶动人，何待艳服乔妆方为绝色也哉。子舆氏曰：“西子蒙不洁，则人皆掩鼻而过之。虽有恶人，斋戒沐浴，则可以事上帝。”以恶人而斋戒沐浴，尚可以事上帝，何况西子本身自洁，更能斋戒沐浴，其芳香藻洁当更增百倍矣。陶庵于此，正须着眼，何必辗转反侧，寤寐求之，乃欲以妖梦是践也。
社弟查继佐偶书
Preface I
张岱
Zhang Tao'an wrote Dream Recollections of West Lake because the gardens and pavilions, the peach trees and willows, the pipes and drums and storied barges of West Lake are all broken and out of their old order, and he therefore wished to seek them in dream and restore the prospect of former years. I alone say it is not so. To my mind West Lake's own substance is marvellous in itself: thickly painted it is fine, lightly made up it is better still. The splendour and finery upon the lake may have withered away entirely, yet the light on the water and the colour of the hills have not shifted by a hair — what Dongpo called the shimmer of clear weather and the blur of rain stands composed and at ease as ever. West Lake has long been likened to Xi Shi. Its towers and terraces, ponds and halls, are Xi Shi's brocade robes and festal dress; its tender willows and lush peach blossom are Xi Shi's singing voice and dancing carriage. Of late Xi Shi has given over singing and dancing, washed off her paint, drawn out hairpins and earrings, loosened her clothes and sat at her ease. This is precisely the moment when Xi Shi steps from the bath, and one should look at her ice flesh and jade bone, bewitching and moving as they are. Why wait for gaudy dress and elaborate toilette before granting her surpassing beauty? Master Ziyu said: "Let Xi Shi be covered with filth, and everyone will hold his nose and pass her by. Though a man be ugly, if he fasts and bathes he may serve the Lord on High." If even an ugly man, fasting and bathing, may serve the Lord on High, how much more Xi Shi, who is clean in herself and now fasts and bathes besides: her fragrance and purity must be a hundred times increased. Here is where Tao'an ought to fix his eye. Why toss and turn, seeking her waking and sleeping, and set out to tread the road of a beguiling dream?
Written offhand by Zha Jizuo, of the same society