The enjoyment of these things, like the enjoyment of the moon, the snow and the flowers, must take place in proper company, for this I regard as the thing that the Chinese artists of life most frequently insist upon: that certain kinds of flowers must be enjoyed with certain types of persons, certain kinds of scenery must be associated with certain kinds of ladies, that the sound of raindrops must be enjoyed, if it is to be enjoyed fully, when lying on a bamboo bed in a temple deep in the mountains on a summer day；that, in short, the mood is the thing, that there is a proper mood for everything, and that wrong company may spoil the mood entirely. Hence the beginning of any artist of life is that he or anyone who wishes to learn to enjoy life must, as the absolutely necessary condition, find friends of the same type of temperament, and take as much trouble to gain and keep their friendship as wives take to keep their husbands, or as a good chess player takes a journey of a thousand miles to meet a fellow chess player.

 

享受这三件东西，也如享受雪月花 草一般，须有适当的同伴。中国的生活艺术家最注意此点，例如：看花须和某种人为伴，赏景须有某种女子为伴，听雨最好须在夏日山中寺院内躺在竹榻上。总括起来说，赏玩一样东西时，最紧要的是心境。我们对每一种事物，各有一种不同的心境。不适当的同伴，常会败坏心境。所以生活艺术家的出发点就是：他如更想要享受人生，则第一个必要条件即是和性情相投的人交朋友，须尽力维持这友谊，如妻子要维持其丈夫的爱 情一般，或如一个下祺名手宁愿跑一千里的长途去会见一个同志一般。

 

The atmosphere, therefore, is the thing. One must begin with the proper conception of the scholar studio and the general environment in which life is going to be enjoyed. First of all, there are the friends with whom we are going to share this enjoyment. Different types of friends must be selected for different types of enjoyment. It would be as great a mistake to go horseback riding with a studious and pensive friend, as it would be to go to a concert with a person who doesn't understand music.

 

所以气氛是重要的东西。我们必须先对文士的书室的布置，和它的一般的环境有了相当的认识，方能了解他怎样在享受生活。第一，他们必须有共同享受这种生活的朋友，不同的享受须有不同的朋友。和一个勤学而含愁思的朋友共去骑马，即属引非其类，正如和一个不懂音乐的人去欣赏一次音乐表演一般。