二四、潔常自汙出 明每從暗生

24. Cleanliness often derives from dirt and brightness always from gloom.

糞蟲①至穢，變為蟬而飲露於秋風；腐草無光，化為螢②而耀彩於夏月。因知潔常自汙出，明每從晦生也。

【注 釋】

① 糞蟲：塵芥中所生的蛆蟲。此處指蠐螬（金龜子的幼蟲），古人認為蟬是從蠐螬演變而來的。

② 化為螢：螢火蟲產卵在水邊的草根處，多半潛伏在土中，次年草蛹化為螢火蟲。古人不明白其中原理，誤以為螢火蟲是由腐草變化而成。

【今文解譯】

糞土裏的蛆蟲是最肮臟的東西，可一旦蛻變成蟬，它就能在秋風中啄飲潔淨的甘露。腐爛的草垛黯然無光，可它孕育出的螢火蟲卻能在月色溶溶的夏夜裏發出耀眼的光亮。由此可知，世上潔淨的東西常常出自汙穢，而光明的東西則每每形成於晦暗。

【English Translation】

There is none as filthy as the beetle waggling in muckheap, yet it sips pure dewdrops in the autumn wind after having transformed into a cicada. Lusterless are rotten weeds, yet the fireflies bred thereby glitter fluorescent light under the moon at summer night. These natural givens show that cleanliness usually derives from dirt and brightness from gloom.