在下正是元朝的王冕，一生颠沛流离，曾经从大都南下避难。在淮河上行船，遥望着水天相接处，我不禁感慨自己的一生太过桀骜不驯。统治者让我向北，我偏要向南，现实与我总是格格不入。大家趋之若鹜的东西，我反而视而不见；大家不屑一顾的，我视若珍宝。
虽然我姓王名冕，但是大家都不直接称呼我大名，更愿意叫我 “梅花屋主 ”。因为我曾经辞去了大都的官职，坐舟南下回到故乡。隐居会稽九里山，种梅千枝，筑茅庐三间，题为 “梅花屋 ”。“梅花屋主 ”这个名字就被当地的百姓叫开了。
当初我种梅千枝时，没有一个人理解我的行为。他们笑话我，说我是一个放弃高官厚禄，宁愿在山野种一些花花草草的傻子。我的朋友还劝我：“元章，我们理解你心中郁结不开想种点花草舒缓一下，这不是不可以。只是几株就够了，为什么种了这么多？你和其他人太不一样了。”其实，我不傻。我只是选择了我喜欢做的事情。与其在一个混乱的朝廷做官，挣着厚禄不为百姓谋事，不如辞官南归，在山间种上我最喜欢的梅花。累时便放眼远眺：千枝梅花点缀了青山，心旷神怡；与梅花为伴，我从不觉得孤独。我可以赏它，咏它，画它。它比那些权贵可爱多了。
大家笑我不合时宜。其实，我私下告诉你们，梅花比我更加不合时宜。
其他的花，都争相在春、夏开放，只有梅花，宁愿在晚冬甚至 “大雪 ”节气前后开放。其他花都精细地挑选日子小心开放。除了梅花，它们都相中了温暖的季节；只有梅花，雪下得越大，天气越严寒，它开得越旺盛，开得越迷人。我的梅花，它临寒独自开。到那个时候，在寂寥的被大雪覆盖的山野，突然闪现出千万点红色的花朵，在寒风中恣意地绽放。所以我敢说，梅花比我更加不合时宜。
但恰恰是梅花的这一点不合时宜，成就了我对它矢志不渝的喜欢。它比其他花都勇敢，没有花敢在最冷的时节绽放，也没有花敢公然向肃杀的寒冬挑衅，但是梅花敢这么做。它不仅这么做了，而且做得很彻底，绽放得很美丽，而且散发出不减的香气。
在一个冬天的早晨，我曾出门欣赏我栽种的千枝梅花，发现所有的梅花瓣都被大雪覆盖住了，有些梅花瓣上甚至还结了冰。但这一切都丝毫不影响它毫无保留的绽放。“梅花香自苦寒来 ”，我在寒冷的花野深吸一口气，香气伴随着冷风袭来，寒暖交织，觉得莫名感动。这一切都让我不禁想到自己这些年做的一些决定。我的仕途很坎坷，我有很多想法不被别人认可，知己也很少，我也不是很喜欢我的统治者。他们不理朝政，固守落后的政策，让百姓受了很多罪。正因为如此，我才下定决心辞官隐退，在山上种梅千枝陶冶情操，纵情于花海之间，不闻政事一丝一毫。每当我半夜惊觉反思曾经所为，都感觉自己是一个不合时宜的人。可是此时此刻，眼前的梅花仿佛在告诉我，没有什么不合时宜的人，不过是自己吓唬自己罢了。看似不合时宜的人，其实是坚持了心中正确的方向，不与世俗苟同罢了。看那成片梅林和与雪起舞的梅花，它们不惧寒冷，依然开得精彩；它们不被那些在春夏开放的百花理解，正如我王冕不被世俗朝廷理解一样。这一切都在告诉我，要想留住风骨，高风亮节，就要坚持心中的真理，不被别人的想法左右。踏平脚下的路，坚持心中的道；朝寒冬狂笑，收获的是满山锦绣。
那一天，我坐在我亲手栽种的千枝梅林中略啖了一些清酒，闭目养神，觉得悟到了很多，也明白了很多。
故事要旨
在寒冷的时岁，梅花竞相绽放。自古以来，梅花就是中国人坚贞不屈、迎难而上、高风亮节的生动写照。文人爱梅，因为这代表着自强不息，象征着不与世俗同流合污。以梅自勉，以花自喻，这是古代文人的乐趣。
The Plum Blossom
Wang Mian’s Passion for Plum Trees
I am Wang Mian (王冕 ) of the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) and have spent almost all my life traveling from place to place. Once on a boat trip on the Huai River from Dadu (Great Capital of the Yuan Dynasty) to the south for a peaceful life, I looked into the distance, where the water stretched to the horizon, and couldn’t help thinking about my proud and unyielding character. I wasn’t as obedient to my superiors as they expected, and thus found myself to be something of a misfit. What others hold dear I hold in contempt, and vice versa.
My formal name is Wang Mian, but I’m better known as the “owner of Plum Blossom Hut.” Behind this nickname is a story: Having resigned from my official position in the capital to live as a recluse on Mount Jiuli in Kuaiji my hometown, I built a three-room cottage, named “Plum Blossom Hut,” and planted thousands of plum trees, thereby gaining my nickname from the locals.
Originally, nobody showed me any understanding; instead, they laughed at me, seeing me as a fool who had abandoned a high position and fat salary for a simple life in the country. A friend of mine said, “Wang Mian, it’s easy for me to understand you please yourself by planting dozens of plum trees. But why thousands of them? That’s so strange.” In fact, I am not a fool but a person who likes to do what he wants to do. Compared to doing nothing practical in a well-paid position, living in seclusion here is a much better choice for me. Looking far in the distance when tired, I can be soothed by the plum trees dotted over the green mountain, and loneliness is always kept outside of my heart when accompanied by them. Appreciating them, writing about them and drawing them – in my eyes, they are a lot lovelier than the dignitaries I used to work with.
I impress people as a misfit. But let me tell you something: “Misfit” is a word better suited to plum blossoms than to me.
Instead of vying to bloom on a selected day in spring or summer like the other flowers, plum trees only blossom in late winter, and even during the “Great Snow” (one of the 24 Chinese solar terms) period. The colder the weather, the better they bloom, and the more appealing they are. When everything is covered in thick snow, only the red plum blossoms are seen all over the vast mountains and fields, blooming freely in the chilly wind. That’s why I say “misfit” is a better description of plum blossoms than of me.
It’s precisely the plum trees’ ill-timed blooming that makes me a faithful lover of them. They are the only ones that are brave enough to defy the cold and bloom in chilly winter, so beautiful and fragrant.
One winter morning, I went to inspect my plum blossoms, and found all the petals covered with snow, some even frozen, which, however, didn’t stop them coming into full bloom. “The fragrance of plum blossoms sharpens in chilly winter,” it is said. A deep breath of the cold air, together with the fragrance of the blossoms, brought me mixed feelings, which reminded me of the decisions I had made over the past years. My political career was full of ups and downs. With few of my ideas shared by others, I had few soulmates, and no respect for my superiors either. They were not sincere about state affairs, together with the stale old polices they clung to, inflicting endless suffering on the common people. That’s why I decided to enjoy the pleasure of growing thousands of plum trees here on the mountain. Whenever I wake in the night and think about my past life I consider myself a man out of accord with my time. But at the very moment when I see the plum blossoms, I seem to hear them tell me that I was wrong in seeing myself as a misfit. “Misfits” are those who insist on sticking to what they think is right and refuse to follow others blindly – just like the plum trees and blossoms dancing in the cold wind and snow. They must seem strange enough to the spring and summer flowers for their ill-timed blooming, just as I used to strike others. All that reinforced my resolve that one has to hold firmly to what one believes to be right and refuse to be influenced by others in whatever circumstances, in order to keep one’s strength and nobility of character, just as plum trees blossom gorgeously in the coldness of winter.
That day, sitting among the thousands of plum trees I myself had grown, I drank some wine, and thought a lot – and the thinking turned out to be quite fruitful.
The Moral of This Story
In the cold of winter, only plum trees bloom brightly. Since ancient times, plum blossoms have been believed to symbolize the unyielding spirit and noble character of the Chinese people. Ancient Chinese men of letters showed special affection for plum blossoms because in them they saw an indomitable spirit and a noble character of keeping aloof from worldly concerns. For that reason, they took great delight in comparing themselves to plum blossoms.
