虛堂和尚語錄 2.167

2.167

除夜小參：「新底不知舊底已往，舊底不知新底已來，新舊不相知，物物還對偶，衲僧家以為極則。殊不知，半夜三更，蒲團上竪起脊梁，誰管爾漏箭推遷、更點遲速，猶被人喚作無轉智大王，何況如矮子看戲，隨人上下。雖然，只知暖日生芳草，那料春風暗著人。」

At the informal gathering on New Year's Eve: "The new does not know that the old has already gone; the old does not know that the new has already come. The new and the old do not know each other, and thing after thing is matched as a pair; patch-robed monks take this as the ultimate principle. Little do they know that in the dead of night, at the third watch, sitting upright on the rush mat with backbones erect, who cares about the shifting of the water clock's arrows or the speed of the night watches? Still they are called Great Kings of Non-turning Wisdom, not to mention being like dwarfs watching a play, bobbing up and down with others. Even so, they only know that the warm sun gives birth to fragrant grass; how could they anticipate that the spring wind secretly touches a person?"