We used to say, "The knowledge of that

Which is small does not reach to that

Which is great; the experience of a few years

Does not reach to that of many generations.

How do we know that it is so?

The fungus of a morning does not know

What takes place between the beginning

And end of a month; the short-lived bee

Does not know what's going on

Between the spring and autumn.

These are instances of a short term of life.

In the south there is the olive tree

Whose spring is five hundred years

And its autumn lasts the same;

Whose spring is a thousand years

And its autumn numbers the same.

In great antiquity there was one man

Renowned to the present day

For his length of life: if all men

Were to wish to match him,

Would they not be miserable?