朝

起

早

，

夜

眠

迟

zhao

qi

zao

ye

mian

chi

早上

起床

早早地

晚上

睡觉

晚晚地

morning

to get up

early

night

to go to sleep

late

早上要起得早，晚上要睡得晚。
In the morning we should get up early; at night we should go to bed late.

老

易

至

，

惜

此

时

lao

yi

zhi

xi

ci

shi

年纪老大

容易地

来到

爱惜

这

时候

old age

easily

to arrive

to treasure

this

period

年华很快就会老大，要珍惜眼前的时光。
Old age will arrive very quickly; we should treasure the time we have left.

天地悠悠，亘古常存，不知何始何终；而人命无常，长者不过百年，亦是千万中不得其一，更何况夭逝者还大有人在。所谓“莫到老年方学道，孤坟尽是少年人”；坟墓里躺着的全是死人，却不一定都是老人。人生天地间，就好比蜉蝣之于老椿，滴水之于大海，哪里能比量？又哪里能仗恃目前的青春年少？

While the universe is vast and eternal, with no known beginning or end, human life is so brief. Maybe only one person in a million lives to be a hundred. Many are those who do not live our their natural life spans. There's a saying, "Don't wait till you're old to practice the Way: the lonely graves are mostly those of young people." Not all the corpses lying in the graves are old people. Humans born into the world are like ephemeral insects on an old tree, like a drop of water in the ocean. How could their life span compare with that of the universe" How can they think that their present youth will last?

古语云：“百年三万六千日，蝴蝶梦中度一春。”若是把今生虚度，等到黄粱梦醒，两手空空辞世之后，轮回无期，苦不堪言；又向何生度此身呢？人身非常难得，既有幸今生为人，就该好好珍惜有限时光，努力做一点无限事业，才不枉来了这一遭！若是日日纸醉金迷，或为三餐忙进忙出，那又何异乎草木禽兽？更别提如此愚痴过日，造罪无数，来生的苦报还无穷无已！那么什么是无限事业？又如何来开创这无限事业呢？

 An old proverb says, "The 36,000 days in a hundred years are no more than a passing spring in a butterfly dream." If one wastes this life in vain. then when the dream is over, one leaves the world empty-handed and undergoes indescribable suffering in the endless cycle of rebirth. When will one have another chance to liberate oneself? It is extremely difficult to obtain a human body. Since we arc fortunate enough to be humans in this life, we should cherish the limited time we have and work diligently to do something that will last forever. Then our life will not be in vain. If we are merely infatuated with wealth, or busy making a living so we can have three meals a day, how are we different from plants and animals" If we foolishly spend our days creating countless offenses the retribution we suffer in lives to come will have no end. What kind of work can we do that will last forever? How can we go about doing it?

在中国宋朝末年，元兵在元世祖领导下，一路攻城陷镇，锐不可当。当时识时务的，不是趋炎附势、忝然无耻地朝事新主子，就是为保身家，不得已弃城投降；稍有气节的，也都隐名埋姓，幽居乡野。唯独一个不怕死的文天祥，偏是知其不可而为之，就做些个“鸡鸣不已于风雨”的傻事。

In the final years of the Song Dynasty in China, the Yuan troops under the leadership of Yuan Shizu (the future emperor of the Yuan Dynasty) defeated all the cities and towns in their path: there was no stopping them. Those who saw what was happening either went over to the winning side and shamelessly served the new leader, or else gave up their cities and surrendered in order to preserve their lives and homes. Those who had some sense of honor changed their names and went into seclusion in the countryside. The only one who wasn't afraid of death was Wen Tianxiang, who did what he knew was impossible, being foolish like a rooster that did not stop crowing even in the storm. 

怎么样呢？他把家中的钱财都拿出来，组织一支义军，号召救国卫君。起初倒也有些声势，无奈大势已去，最后宋朝还是完了，他也做了阶下囚。元世祖很是爱惜敬重他，劝他投降；但文天祥硬是“富贵不能淫，威武不能屈”，宁死也不降。有名的《正气歌》就是他在监狱中作的。临刑前，他更慷慨激昂地说出：“读圣贤书，所学何事？而今而后，庶几无愧！”

He took all his family savings and used it to organize an army of volunteers to save the country and protect the king. At first the army had some success, but in the end the Song Dynasty still came to an end and he was captured and imprisoned. Out of love and respect for him. Emperor Yuan Shizu exhorted him to surrender. But Wen Tianxiang was "not tempted by wealth and honor, not intimidated by military threats.' He would rather die than surrender. The well-known "Song of Righteousness" was composed when he was in prison. Right before his execution, he magnanimously and proudly declared, ''What have I learned from reading the books of sages? From today onwards. I have no cause for remorse"'

我们每个人虽然生来业报不同，能力、愿力也不一，但是务必各自发心，精进不懈来自我超越。能力愿力小者，至少要独善其身，不受轮回；能力愿力中者，为社会谋利，为世界造福；能力愿力大者，自觉觉他，同超圣地。那么，我们死时也可以说出：“读圣贤书，所学何事？而今而后，庶几无愧！”这才真是不虚枉这一生了。这就是无限的事业。要开创无限的事业，又必须具有无限的精神和体魄不可。这无限的精神与体魄，又哪里得来呢？就必须自小起早眠迟，从洒扫进退的日常小事上来锻炼起！

Although we are born with different karmic retributions, capabilities, and resolves, we should certainly be determined to work hard and excel our own limits. Even if our capabilities and resolves are slight, we should at least cultivate ourselves so we can free ourselves from the cycle of rebirth. Those with intermediate capabilities and resolves should work for the good of society and the world. Those with great capabilities should enlighten themselves as well as others, so that all can reach sagehood together. Then when we die we can say. "What have we learned from reading the books of sages? Now I can say that I have no cause for remorse!" Then we can truly say that we have not lived this life in vain. That is the kind of work that lasts forever. To do this kind of work, we need limitless zest and energy. And where does this limitless zest and energy come from" It starts with the habit of getting up early and going to bed late. We have to train ourselves starting from the small matters of daily life, such as household chores and social etiquette.