译文1：

Savor my plain tea

  I savor my plain tea when others their wine. We should reach the realm of our life: To be self-sedate.

  I savor my plain tea at the sight of others’ success and glory, for I am aware of the possessor of the applause. So even if you hasten to follow in other’s footsteps, no success will await you. You should rather write another splendid chapter of your life, or nothing but the glimpse of success will you catch.

  I savor my plain tea, sedate, no matter what happens. Lotus will remain untainted when planted in mud. Perhaps it would have already been withered if grown in a dry land for fear of polluted water. Likewise, in our life, the evasion of evil, ugliness and wickedness discloses nothing but our fragile soul. He who is self-sedate is immune to his surroundings and contagious as well. The mother of Mencious, for example, consecutively moved from one place to another three times only for fear of her son being colored by the environment. Later on, we never heard of her move again after Mencious had grown up.

  To be self-sedate is not simply to find a serene place, but rather remain composed in turmoil. Being Sedate is a realm where one is fully committed to his goal in the face of uncertainties. Only by reaching this realm can one be the master of his future, savoring his plain tea when others their wine.

译文2：                               Serve Myself with Fresh Tea

  While others are indulged in wine, I keep serving myself with fresh tea. I hold the belief that life needs to attain a plane of inner peace.

I continue to keep my inner peace when other people achieve success and reputation. I am fully aware that those praises don’t belong to me. So it’s not necessary to imitate them in order to get little success. We need to take a new initiative.

  Not escaping difficulties, I remain content with my life. Lotus lives in the silt but not imbrued. If it were planted on a dry land, it would never burst into flowers. So with life, evading evils only indicates a vulnerable soul. A man with inner peace not only is fearless about being negatively affected by the environment, but has the power to influence others. Mencius’s mother moves her home three times to better her son’s education rather than consider for herself. And there is no record of such moves when her son grew up.

  Inner peace does not refer to a tranquil place. It means keeping your mind peaceful in the disorder. Peace is a plane that can be attained if one adheres to his principle in a volatile situation. And only such kind of people can steer their life boats and truly practice “While others are indulged in wine, I keep serving myself with fresh tea.

参考译文：

                                Contenting Myself with Plain Tea

                                        居祖纯 译

Human life, it seems to me, needs a placidity of mind.

While others may be winning and dining, I am content with my plain tea. Not dazzled by other people’s aura of success and glamour, I will indulge in my simple pleasure. Clearly aware where the credit goes, I will not join in the rush in the vain hope of accepting the prize to be handed to me on a plate. The best a blind follower can do is tailing after the winners. The only alternative is to create wonders of one’s own.

I stick to the pureness of my pleasure, never escaping from reality. The lotus grows in the mud without being tainted. If, to avoid the dirt, one plants it on dry clean ground, it simply will not grow. The same holds true for human beings. Shrinking from what is ugly, vile and evil only proves the frailty of one’s character. A person in full possession of mental serenity never stands in fear of being mentally contaminated by the filthy environment. On the contrary, he can exercise positive influences all around. Mencius’s mother made three removals during his childhood to keep him away from bad influences, which did not pose any problem for her. History does not record any more of such removals after he grew up.

Enjoying the tranquility of mind does not mean hiding oneself in a haven. What is meant is the maintenance of such a mental state in the midst of chaos, i.e. moral immovability amidst kaleidoscopic changes. Only a person who has attained his plane can be a real master of his destiny, contenting himself with the purest and simplest pleasure.