包邮西湖七月半(中英对照)

Friendly Chats ——Preface to SHUIHUCHUAN Chin Shengtan A MAN SHOULD NOT MARRY after thirty if he is not already married, and should not enter the overnment service after forty if he is not already in the service. At fifty, he should not start to raise a family, and at sixty should not travel abroad. This is because there is a time for everything; done out of season and time, there may be more disadvantages than advantages. One wakes up at dawn completely refeshed, washes his face and puts on the headress, has his breakfast, chews willow branches "for brightening his teeth", and attends to various things. Before he knows it he asks is it noon, and is told it is long past noon. As the morning goes, so goes the afternoon, and as one day passes, so pass the 36,000 days of ones life. If one is going to be upset by this thought, how can one ever enjoy life? I often wonder at a statement that such and such a person is to many years old.