陶渊明宁可放弃高位厚禄，也不愿与官场的人同流合污。不做官，就回家种田。陶渊明放下笔墨纸砚，拾起铁锹锄头；脱下官袍，戴上了农民的斗笠。
Tao Yuanming preferred to abandon high office and a fat salary, and moreover was determined not to be tainted by members of officialdom. Abandoning his post, Tao Yuanming returned to his home, and dedicated himself to farming. He relinquished the writing brush for the iron hoe, and exchanged his official’s robe for the farmer’s straw hat.
陶家门前的东篱下，正好栽种着一片菊花丛。陶渊明每次在田里耕作完，都会到东篱边上的菊花圃里采花。若是清晨采花，花上还沾着坠露。采下的菊花一是为了摆设，二是为了酿菊花酒。陶渊明归隐的日子并不孤独，有菊花相伴。
He planted a row of chrysanthemums on the eastern side of the fence before his door.When he finished his daily work in the field, Tao Yuanming would pick blossoms from the chrysanthemum patch. Sometimes he would pick them in the early morning, when the dew was fresh upon them. He picked them partly to use as decorations and partly to use in making chrysanthemum wine. Tao Yuanming was not lonely in his retirement; he had his chrysanthemums to keep him company.
有人不太理解他的行为，问陶渊明：“陶公，你为什么这么喜欢菊花？”
There were people who did not understand his way of life, and they asked him: “Mister Tao, why do you like chrysanthemums so much?”
陶渊明笑着回答：“如果你了解我的经历，也就会明白我为什么爱这菊花了。我之所以归隐田园，是因为当今的政坛氛围令我失望。放弃曾经的位子，拿起并不熟悉的锄头，这需要怎样一番勇气与决心呢？那田野间星星点点的菊花却给了我莫大的鼓励。它们不生长在官府的花圃里，生长在田园。这正如我陶渊明当下处的位置。菊花傲霜，能够抵挡严寒，能够坚守自我；这些品格又何尝不是我陶渊明追求的呢？它不张扬，有自己的活法，有隐士的形象；我陶渊明立志做东晋第一隐士，菊花怎么会不是我的伙伴呢？”
Tao replied with a smile: “If you knew my life experience you would know why I love these chrysanthemums. The reason I returned to till my field in retirement was disappointment with the situation in officialdom. Do you know how much courage and resolve it took for me to quit my official post and take up the unaccustomed work of the hoe? Those chrysanthemums growing so brightly in the wild gave me so much encouragement! They don’t grow in the gardens of government offices, but here in the countryside – just like myself, Tao Yuanming. Chrysanthemum blossoms can withstand frost and severe cold.They can preserve their own integrity. How are these qualities unlike those Tao Yuanming pursues? Chrysanthemum blossoms are not flamboyant; they lead their own private lives,just like hermits. I, Tao Yuanming, have resolved to be the leading hermit of the Eastern Jin, so naturally chrysanthemum blossoms are my companions.”
陶渊明作诗称赞菊花与青松一样开遍树林冠岩间，面对秋霜，依旧开得挺拔。菊花的形象既然和隐士的形象相关联，那么陶渊明爱菊也就不难理解了。
In his poems, Tao Yuanming praises both chrysanthemums and pine trees: They both adorn the forests and crown the crags, and both stand straight in the face of the autumn frosts. Because the chrysanthemum symbolizes the hermit, it is not difficult to understand why Tao Yuanming loved chrysanthemums.
