During her weekly translation practice with fellow students at the International Institute of Translation of Buddhist Texts last year, Christine Wee translated a passage from the Zhuangzi, using Edgar Allan Poe’s poetic style.
昔者庄周梦為胡蝶，栩栩然胡蝶也，自喻适志与！不知周也。俄然觉，则蘧蘧然周也。不知周之梦為胡蝶与，胡蝶之梦為周与？周与胡蝶，则必有分矣。此之谓物化。
Zhuang Zhou was happily being-
A butterfly when he was dreaming
He didn’t know-
That he was Zhuang Zhou
Then, he woke up, startled to find-
It was him in his mind
“Did I just dream as a butterfly? Oh Gee-
Or did a butterfly dream it was me?”
Zhuang Zhou and a butterfly-
Are two distinct beings
Beings manifested in-
The Transformation of Things.