朱熹 半畝方塘一鏡開 ，天光雲影共徘徊。Like a mirror opens the half-acre square pond

【觀書有感】二首其一   南宋 · 朱熹

半畝方塘一鏡開，    天光雲影共徘徊。
問渠那得清如許，    為有源頭活水來。



GUAN SHU YOU GAN: No. 1 (of 2)
"What I Learn from Reading a Book"
-- by Zhu Xi (1130-1200)(Southern Song)
-- Translated by Frank Yue

Like a mirror opens the half-acre square                                                                           pond;**       
Reflected sunlight, cloud shadows play, stay,                                                                     and bond.
O, Tell me how can the water be clear like so?     From the source a divine, live fountainhead                                                                       does flow!


**In ancient China, the mirror was made of polished copper that was reflective and wrapped in a piece of cloth when not in use. Opening a string-bound paper book-- that is rectangular or half-square in shape -- is like opening up a covered mirror by removing the cloth. The pond (book) of course does reflect the sky (knowledge) and
its interaction with the mind (intellectual development). 

古人以铜为鏡，包以鏡袱，用時打開。