Original text (Chinese)
Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true;
Real becomes not-real when the unreal's real.
One day, when spring has gone and youth has fled,
The Maiden and the flowers will both be dead.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.
To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.
Not for the body, but for the heart; companion and company are needed.
Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies,
And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise.
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Cao Xueqin (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.