Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan marvels at the wonders of nature, time, space, and reincarnation. This piece is all about awe of the natural world, and you’ll learn some Discovery Channel vocab, like “pupa”, “mate”, “breed”, “spawn”, and lots of animal names.
我在院子里，观察一只蛹，如何变成蝴蝶。
那只蛹咬破了壳，全身湿软地从壳中钻了出来，它的翅膀卷曲皱缩成一团，它站在枝桠上休息晒太阳，好像钻出壳已经用了很大的力气。
它慢慢地、慢慢地，伸直翅膀，飞了起来。
它在空中盘桓了一下子，很快地找寻到一朵花，它停在花上，专注、忘情地吸着花蜜。
我感到非常吃惊，这只蝴蝶从来没有被教育怎么飞翔，从来没有学习过如何去吸花蜜，没有爸爸妈妈教过它，这些都是它的第一次，它的第一次就做得多么精确而完美呀！
我想到，这只蝴蝶将来还会交配、繁衍、产卵、死亡，这些也都不必经由学习和教育。
然后，它繁衍的子孙，一代一代，也不必教育和学习，就会飞翔和采花了。
一只蝴蝶是依赖什么来安排它的一生呢？未经教育与学习，它又是如何来完成像飞翔或采蜜如此复杂的事呢？
这个世界不是有很多未经教育与学习就完美展现的事吗？鸟的筑巢、蜘蛛的结网多么完美！孔雀想谈恋爱时，就开屏跳舞！云雀有了爱意，就放怀唱歌；天鹅和鲸鱼历经千里也不迷路；印度豹与鸵鸟天生就是赛跑高手。
这些都使我相信轮回是真实的。
一只蝴蝶乃是带着前世的种子投生到这个世界，在它的种子里，有一个不可动摇的信念：
“我将飞翔！我将采蜜！我将繁衍子孙！”
在那只美丽的蝴蝶身上，我看到空间的无限与时间的流动，深深地感动了。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 院子 | yuàn zi | courtyard; garden; yard; patio; CL:個|个[ge4]; (old) servant |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 观 | Guàn | surname Guan |
| 察 | Chá | short name for Chahar Province 察哈爾|察哈尔[Cha2 ha1 er3]; variant of 察[cha2] |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 蛹 | ||
| 如何 | rú hé | how; what way; what |
| 变成 | biàn chéng | to change into; to turn into; to become |
| 蝴 | hū | used in 蝴蝶[hu2 die2] |
| 蝶 | dié | variant of 蝶[die2]; (bound form) butterfly |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 咬 | yáo | to bite |
| 破 | pò | broken; damaged; worn out; lousy; rotten; to break, split or cleave; to get rid of; to destroy; to break with; to defeat; to capture (a city etc); to expose the truth of |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 壳 | qiào | variant of 殼|壳[qiao4]; (coll.) shell (of an egg, nut, crab etc); case; casing; housing (of a machine or device) |
| 全身 | quán shēn | the whole body; (typography) em |
| 湿 | shi | wet; moist; damp |
| 软 | ruǎn | soft; flexible; variant of 軟|软[ruan3] |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 中 | Zhōng | (bound form) China; Chinese; surname Zhong |
| 钻 | zuan | to drill; to bore; to get into (zuan4); a drill; diamond (zuan1) |
| 出 | chū | to go out; to come out; to arise; to occur; to produce; to yield; to go beyond; to exceed; (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result); classifier for…; variant of 出[chu1] (classifier for plays or chapters of classical novels) |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 翅 | chì | variant of 翅[chi4]; (bound form) wing (of a bird or insect) |
| 膀 | báng | upper arm |
| 卷 | juán | to roll up; (slang) to compete to an unhealthy degree; hypercompetitive; classifier for small rolled-up things (wad of paper money, movie reel etc) |
| 曲 | Qū | surname Qu; variant of 麴|曲[qu1]; fermentation starter; leaven (molds, yeasts or bacteria used in fermenting soy products or brewing etc); Taiwan pr. [qu2] |
| 皱 | zhòu | to wrinkle; wrinkled; to crease |
| 缩 | suo | to withdraw; to contract; to reduce; also pr. [su4] |
| 成 | Chéng | surname Cheng; short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1] |
| 团 | tuán | round; lump; ball; to roll into a ball; to gather; regiment; group; society; classifier for a lump or a soft mass: wad (of paper), ball (of wool), cloud (of smoke); dumpling |
| 站 | zhàn | station; to stand; to halt; to stop; branch of a company or organization; website |
| 枝 | zhī | branch; classifier for sticks, rods, pencils etc |
| 桠 | ||
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 休息 | xīu xi | rest; to rest |
| 晒太阳 | shài tài yáng | to be in the sun (getting warm or sunbathing etc); to put sth in the sun (e.g. to dry it) |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 力气 | lì qi | physical strength |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 伸 | shen | to stretch |
| 直 | Zhí | surname Zhi; Zhi (c. 2000 BC), fifth of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God |
| 飞 | fēi | to fly |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 空中 | kōng zhōng | in the sky; in the air |
| 盘 | pán | tray; plate; dish; (finance) (bound form) market prices; (computing) (bound form) disk; to coil (a rope, pigtail etc); to check; to examine; to investigate; to transfer; to sell (p… |
| 桓 | ||
| 一下子 | yī xià zi | once; one time; (following a verb) for a moment; briefly; for a little while; in no time; almost immediately; all at once; all of a sudden |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 找寻 | zhǎo xún | to look for; to seek; to find fault |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 朵 | duó | flower; fig. item on both sides |
| 花 | Huā | surname Hua; old variant of 花[hua1]; variant of 花[hua1]; flower; blossom; also pr. [wei3] |
| 停 | tíng | to stop; to halt; to park (a car) |
| 专 | zhuan | for a particular person, occasion, purpose; special; particular (to sth); specialized |
| 注 | zhù | (bound form) to pour into; to flow into; to inject; (bound form) to focus (one's spirit, gaze etc) on a single point; to concentrate; (bound form) stake (in gambling); classifier f…; to annotate; to provide explanatory notes on a written text; an annotation; an explanatory note; (bound form) to put on record; to register |
| 忘情 | wàng qíng | unmoved; indifferent; unruffled by sentiment |
| 吸 | xi | to breathe; to absorb |
| 着花 | zháo huā | to blossom; to come to flower; to be in bloom |
| 蜜 | mì | honey |
| 感 | gǎn | to feel; to move; to touch; to affect; feeling; emotion; (suffix) sense of ~ |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 吃惊 | chī jīng | to be startled; to be shocked; to be amazed |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 被 | bèi | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, … |
| 教 | Jiào | surname Jiao |
| 育 | yù | to have children; to raise or bring up; to educate |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 翔 | xiáng | to circle aloft; to soar |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn; to study |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 花蜜 | huā mì | nectar |
| 爸爸 | bà ba | (coll.) father; dad; CL:位[wei4] |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 这些 | zhè xiē | these |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 一次 | yī cì | first; first time; once; (math.) linear (of degree one) |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 多么 | duō me | how (wonderful etc); what (a great idea etc); however (difficult it may be etc); (in interrogative sentences) how (much etc); to what extent |
| 精确 | jīng què | accurate; precise |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 完美 | wán měi | perfect |
| 呀 | yā | ah (used to express surprise); (onom.) creaking |
| 想到 | xiǎng dào | to think of; to call to mind; to anticipate |
| 将 | jiāng | will; shall; to use; to take; to checkmate; just a short while ago; (introduces object of main verb, used in the same way as 把[ba3]) |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 交 | jiāo | to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over; to make friends; (of lines) to intersect; variant of 跤[jiao1] |
| 配 | pèi | to join; to fit; to mate; to mix; to match; to deserve; to make up (a prescription); to allocate |
| 繁衍 | fán yǎn | to multiply; to reproduce; to increase gradually in number or quantity |
| 产卵 | chǎn luǎn | to lay eggs |
| 死亡 | sǐ wáng | to die; death |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 不必 | bù bì | need not; does not have to; not necessarily |
| 经由 | jīng yóu | via |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 子孙 | zǐ sūn | offspring; posterity |
| 一代 | yī dài | an era; an age; a generation |
| 采花 | cǎi huā | to pick flowers; to enter houses at night in order to rape women |
| 依 | yi | to depend on; according to |
| 赖 | lǎi | to depend on; to rely on; to deny; to blame; to loiter; surname Lai |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 安排 | ān pái | to arrange; to plan; to set up; arrangements; plans |
| 一生 | yī shēng | all one's life; throughout one's life |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation… |
| 未经 | wèi jīng | not having undergone; without (having gone though a certain process) |
| 与 | yú | variant of 歟|欤[yu2] |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 完成 | wán chéng | to complete; to accomplish |
| 或 | huò | maybe; perhaps; might; possibly; or |
| 采 | cǎi | to pick; to pluck; to collect; to select; to choose; to gather; color; complexion; looks; variant of 彩[cai3]; variant of 採|采[cai3] |
| 如此 | rú cǐ | like this; so; such |
| 复 | fù | to go and return; to return; to resume; to return to a normal or original state; to repeat; again; to recover; to restore; to turn over; to reply; to answer; to reply to a letter; …; to repeat; to double; to overlap; complex (not simple); compound; composite; double; diplo-; duplicate; overlapping; to duplicate; variant of 復|复[fu4]; to reply to a letter |
| 杂 | zá | variant of 雜|杂[za2]; mixed; miscellaneous; various; to mix |
| 事 | shì | matter; thing; item; work; affair; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2] |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 世界 | shì jiè | world |
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not; not |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 展现 | zhǎn xiàn | to unfold before one's eyes; to emerge; to reveal; to display |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 鸟 | diǎo | variant of 屌[diao3]; penis |
| 筑 | zhǔ | short name for Guiyang 貴陽|贵阳[Gui4 yang2] |
| 巢 | Cháo | surname Chao |
| 蜘 | ||
| 蛛 | ||
| 结网 | jié wǎng | to spin a web (spider); to weave a net (e.g. for fishing) |
| 孔 | Kǒng | surname Kong |
| 雀 | quě | a freckle |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 谈 | Tán | surname Tan |
| 恋 | liǎn | to feel attached to; to love |
| 爱 | ài | to love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen) |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 开屏 | kāi píng | (a peacock) spreads its tail |
| 跳舞 | tiào wǔ | to dance |
| 云 | yún | (classical) to say; surname Yun; short name for Yunnan 雲南|云南[Yun2 nan2] |
| 有了 | yǒu le | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven (abbr. for 有了胎[you3 le5 tai1]) |
| 爱意 | ài yì | love |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) |
| 怀 | huāi | bosom; heart; to cherish; to carry (in the mind or womb); surname Huai |
| 唱歌 | chàng gē | to sing a song |
| 天鹅 | tiān é | swan |
| 鲸鱼 | jīng yú | whale; CL:條|条[tiao2] |
| 历经 | lì jīng | to experience; to go through |
| 千里 | qiān lǐ | a thousand miles; a thousand li (i.e. 500 kilometers); a long distance |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 迷 | mī | to bewilder; fan; lost |
| 路 | Lù | surname Lu |
| 印 | Yìn | surname Yin; abbr. for 印度[Yin4 du4], India |
| 度 | dù | to pass; to spend (time); measure; limit; extent; degree of intensity; degree (angles, temperature etc); kilowatt-hour; classifier for events and occurrences |
| 豹 | bào | leopard; panther |
| 鸵 | ||
| 天生 | tiān shēng | nature; disposition; innate; natural |
| 就是 | jìu shì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if |
| 赛跑 | sài pǎo | race (running); to race (running) |
| 高手 | gāo shǒu | expert; past master; dab hand |
| 使 | shǐ | to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; to send; to instruct sb to do sth; envoy; messenger |
| 相 | Xiāng | surname Xiang |
| 信 | xìn | letter; mail; CL:封[feng1]; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random |
| 轮 | lūn | wheel; disk; ring; to take turns; to rotate |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 真实 | zhēn shí | true; real |
| 乃是 | nǎi shì | equivalent to either 是[shi4] or 就是[jiu4 shi4] |
| 带 | dài | band; belt; girdle; ribbon; tire; area; zone; region; CL:條|条[tiao2]; to wear; to carry; to take along; to bear (i.e. to have); to lead; to bring; to look after; to raise |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 前世 | qián shì | previous life; former incarnation |
| 种子 | zhǒng zi | seed; CL:顆|颗[ke1],粒[li4] |
| 投生 | tóu shēng | reborn (of departed spirit); to be reincarnated; to leave home for a new life |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 不可 | bù kě | cannot; should not; must not |
| 动 | dòng | (of sth) to move; to set in movement; to displace; to touch; to make use of; to stir (emotions); to alter; abbr. for 動詞|动词[dong4 ci2], verb |
| 摇 | yāo | to shake; to wave; to rock; to sway |
| 念 | niàn | variant of 念[nian4], to read aloud; to read; to study (a subject); to attend (a school); to read aloud; to give (sb) a tongue-lashing (CL:頓|顿[dun4]); to miss (sb); idea; remembrance; twenty (banker's anti-fraud numer… |
| 美 | Měi | (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲[Mei3 zhou1]); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国[Mei3 guo2]) |
| 丽 | lǐ | used in place names, notably 高麗|高丽[Gao1 li2] and 麗水|丽水[Li2 shui3] |
| 身上 | shēn shang | on the body; at hand; among |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 空间 | kōng jiān | space; room; (fig.) scope; leeway; (astronomy) outer space; (physics, math.) space |
| 无限 | wú xiàn | unlimited; unbounded |
| 时间 | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time |
| 流 | líu | to flow; to disseminate; to circulate or spread; to move or drift; to degenerate; to banish or send into exile; stream of water or sth resembling one; class, rate or grade |
| 深 | shēn | old variant of 深[shen1]; (lit. and fig.) deep |
[When] I was in the yard, I observed how a pupa became a butterfly.
That pupa bit open its casing, its soft, moist body burrowing out of its shell, its wings curled and wrinkled around him, it stood on the branch and rested while sunning itself, as if in burrowing out of its shell it had already used up a large amount of strength.
It slowly, slowly, straightened its wings, and flew.
It lingered in the air a while, and quickly sought out a flower, it paused on the flower, intently, indifferently sucking up the flower’s honey.
I felt extremely surprised, this butterfly was never taught how to fly, had never studied how to suck down honey, no mother and father taught it, all of this was its first time, and did this so precisely and perfectly the first time!
I thought, this butterfly will go on to mate, reproduce, spawn and die, and none of this requires study or education.
And then, the offspring it breeds, generation by generation, will also need no education or study, but will fly and pluck flowers.
What does a butterfly depend on to arrange [the course of] its life? Without undergoing education or study, how does it then complete such complicated tasks as flying and gathering flowers?
Doesn’t this world have so many things that don’t require education or study? How perfect are the nests that birds construct and the webs that spiders tie! When a peacock wants to find a mate, it simply spreads its tail and dances! When a sparrow has an inclination to love, it sings its heart out; swans and whales can travel ten thousand miles and not lose their way; the Indian leopard and the ostrich are innately master racers.
All this makes me believe that reincarnation is real.
A butterfly is still carrying the seeds of its past lives as it enters this world, and in its seed, there is an unwavering conviction:
“I will fly! I will gather honey! I will breed offspring!”
In the body of that beautiful butterfly, I could see the limitlessness of space and the flow of time, and was deeply moved.