Listen to this article止酒[1]
居止[2]次城邑，逍遥自闲止。
坐止高荫下，步止荜门里。
好味止园葵，大懽[3]止稚子。
平生不止酒，止酒情无喜。
暮止不安寝，晨止不能起。
日日欲止之，营卫[4]止不理。
徒知止不乐，未知止利己。
始觉止为善，今朝真止矣。
从此一止去，将止扶桑[5]涘。
清颜止宿容，奚止千万祀[6]!
公元402年，陶渊明38岁，为其闲居时所作。这时的诗人居住在上京（晋江西九江市郊）老家，家境上有略见有裕的基础，也有可能是家人再三劝告其戒酒，诗人也决心戒酒，便有了此诗。全诗每句话都有一“止”字，读起来风趣盎然极具民歌情调，这也是诗人写作的一个特色。“平生不止酒，止酒情无喜”指平生不肯停止饮酒，停止饮酒就会心里闷烦。表明诗人确实喜欢喝酒，这也是诗人一生中最大的嗜好，可以辞官，可以守穷，但不可一日无酒。体现出戒酒对诗人来说会是一件痛苦的事情。“清颜止宿容”指仙颜代替旧日的容貌，说明自己对于酒的依恋和将要戒酒的打算。
注释：
[1]止酒：戒酒。止：句末语气助词，无实意。
[2]居止：居住。
[3]懽（huān）：同“欢”，快乐，欢乐。
[4]营卫：中医上的气血和免疫功能。
[5]扶桑：中国古人认为这是太阳出来的地方。
[6]祀：年。
Abstinence
Living within the city bound,
I pass my days freely at leisure.
I take a seat on shady ground,
Or stroll within the gate with pleasure.
I only eat my herbage fine
And enjoy playing with my son.
I never abstrain from drinking wine;
Without wine, life is joyless one.
At night in bed I can’t well stay;
Nor can I rise with rising sun.
If I abstain from day to day,
No harm to my health will be done.
I knew that unhappy I’d feel,
But not what good is done to me.
Now I know abstinence brings weal,
I will abstain today with glee.
If I could abstain as I’m told
Until I reach celestial spheres,
A young look would replace the old
And youth might last a thousand years.
《止酒》是晋宋之际文学家陶渊明闲居时所创作的一首五言诗。此诗首六句叙写淡朴生活及天伦之乐；次六句抒写酒之不可止；接着四句为过渡，似一劝一答；末四句说明止酒利身，直至成仙。全诗以幽默诙谐的语言，说明诗人自己对于酒的依恋和将要戒酒的打算，每句都用一“止”字，读来风趣盎然，具有民歌的情调。
“Abstinence” is a five-line poem written by Tao Yuanming, a literary scholar during his leisure time in Jin and Song dynasties. The first six lines of the poem describe the simple life and the happiness of heaven and earth; the second six lines express the unstoppability of wine; the next four lines are transitional, like a persuasion and a reply; the last four lines explain that stopping wine is beneficial to the body until one becomes immortal. The poem uses humorous and witty language to explain the poet’s attachment to wine and his intention to stop drinking, and the word “stop” is used in each line, which makes the poem interesting to read and has the mood of a folk song.
