無言獨上西樓 月如鉤
寂寞梧桐深院鎖清秋
剪不斷 理還亂
是離愁 別是一般滋味在心頭
The Western Stair
-to the Tune of “Joy at Meeting” tr. By Father John Turner
Alone and silent up the Western Stair
A sickle moon hangs there:
And in the court below
One lonely tree is lapped in cold autumn air.
Shearing will not sever – no,
Nor sorting disentwine their woe,
When lovers part.
Sure ‘tis a special savour in the heart.
Silently I Ascend the West Tower Alone
我住長江頭 君住長江尾
日日思君不見君 共飲長江水
此水幾時休 此恨何時已
只願君心似我心 定不負相思意
Live by Yangtze’s Upstream
《Tune: Song of Divination》 tr By SL Kong
I live by the Yangtze’s upstream and you downstream
Night by night of you I dream
Day in day out you are not in sight but deep in my mind
The same water we share by day and night
Whence will this stream of longing cease
Whence will this pain and sorrow in me ease
Let’s hope that our hearts are of the same kind
Then not in vain we each other pine
簫聲咽，秦娥夢斷秦樓月。
秦樓月，年年柳色，灞陵傷別。
樂遊原上清秋節，咸陽古道音塵絕。
音塵絕，西風殘照，漢家陵闕。
Tune: Remembering the Palace Maids
tr. By S L Kong (1953)
Her flute mute
Her dream cut short by a rendezvous at the moonlit Chin Palace
O moonlit Chin Palace
How she lamented bidding farewell to those glorious days
When year round green palace willows stayed
So much happiness was left behind in the land where autumn fests celebrate
As memories on the Xianyang ancient ways faded
O memories faded
Whence the sun set even the west wind stood
Only the Han tombs and palace ruins continue to moot
故人西辭黃鶴樓 煙花三月下揚州
孤帆遠影碧山盡 唯見長江天際流
Farewell – on seeing Meng Hao-jan off from Brown Crane Tower as he took his departure for Kuang-lin, tr by Father John Turner
And so, dear friend, at Brown Crane Tower you,
Bidding the West adieu,
‘Mid April mists and blossoms go,
Till in the vast blue-green
Your lonely sail’s far shade no more is seen,
Only on the sky’s verge the River’s flow.
大江东去 浪淘尽 千古风流人物
故垒西边 人道是 三国周郎赤壁
乱石崩雲 惊涛拍岸 卷起千堆雪
江山如画 一时多少豪杰
遥想公谨当年 小乔初嫁了 雄姿英发
羽扇纶巾谈笑间 强虏灰飞烟灭
故国神游 多情应笑 我早生华发
人生如梦 一尊还酹江月
Memory at Crimson Cliff (to the tune of Remembering Palace Maids) tr. by S L Kong
The big river flows east
Awashed with its waves gone are so many heroes forgotten in history
Where on the west bank the old fortress stands
Premier Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms won at the Crimson Cliff his fame append
Jagged boulders extend high to pierce the overhanging clouds
Thundering waves serge to carve out the river banks
Rolling up a thousand mound of froths white as snow
For a motherland with such picturesque beauty
Many a gallant soul braved battles to show loyalty
I recall Premier Zhou Yu in yore
His new bride present he beamed to display his manhood people so adore
Wearing a silk hood and waving his plume fan he watched amid laughters
In witness of his planned victory the enemy boats were reduced to ashes
On a revisit in mind and spirit this land so eventful
Only the heroe’s premature grey hair made his loved ones to feel regretful
Life is but a passing dream
O moon to yi I drink
For your witnessing history calmly while shining on us your crystal gleam
人生到處知何似 應似飛鴻踏雪泥
泥上偶然留指爪 鴻飛哪復計東西
老僧已死成新塔 壞壁無由見舊題
往日崎嶇還計否 路長人困蹇驢嘶
A Duet with My Younger Brother on the Good Old Days tr By S L Kong
Who could fore-see how life goes settling hither and wither
It would be like a migrant goose running on snow-wet ground to take flight
If by chance on the cold muddy ground a trace is left so bright
Would the flight-bound bird venture to note its whereabouts so it may later titter
Gone is our good friend the monk now replaced by a dagoba among many
The poems we wrote on the temple wall are seen no more with the decay if left with any
You may recall the arduous journeys we had made together
They were so distant and weary even our donkey brayed half way to say it would not bother
煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。
本是同根生，相煎何太急？
Written on seven paces by Demand tr. By S L Kong (1953)
Beans weep boiling in pot
Being cooked fired by its own stalk
Growing up we stemmed from the same root
Providence allows no haste we each other boot
tr by Robert Li (1959) and Philip Lee (1960)
From the pot of frying beans on a beanstalk fire;
Came weeping from the beans in the pot of dire;
Since the beans and stalk were derived from the same root of distinction;
Why the urgency in a rush for mutual destruction.
Seven-Pace Song tr. By Father John Turner, S.J. (WYCHK 1946-47; 1949-61)
Beans in flame that bean stalks feed
Out from the pan cry
Sprung from the same stalk, what need
Each the other fry
曹植“七步成詩”的廣為流傳：「煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。本是同根生，相煎何太急？」（见于《三国演义》），然而這首詩不見於陳壽的《三國志》，最早見於南朝 劉義慶的《世說新語·文學》，《世说新语》记载着魏文帝曹丕妒忌曹植的才学，命曹植在七步之内作出一首诗，否则将被处死，曹植在不到七步之内便吟出：「煮豆持作羹，漉菽以为汁。萁在釜下燃，豆在釜中泣。本自同根生，相煎何太急？」但此詩是否為曹植所著作，至現今仍有爭議。 维基百科 __ YK Chan
繞池閒步看魚遊，
正值兒童弄釣舟。
一種愛魚心各異，
我來施食爾垂鉤。
Looking at Fishes Po Chu-I (772-846) tr by Father John Turner, S.J.
As all around the pool I went,
Watching the fishes glide:
In fishing-boat on fishing bent
My little ones I spied.
The love of fish did each one lead
As each one’s fancy took him.
For I came out my fish to feed:
And you came out to hook him.
朝辞白帝彩云间
千里江陵一日还
两岸猿声啼不住
轻舟已过万重山
Leaving Bai Di Chun at Dawn tr. By S L Kong (Class of 1953)
I left at dawn the castle town of Bai Di beneath colourful clouds
To sail round one thousand li of waters and canyons in a day
While monkeys on shore said adieus aloud
Their sad cries vanished as my skiff passed mountains away
危樓高百尺﹐
手可摘星辰。
不敢高聲語﹐
恐驚天上人。
Overnight at a Mountain Temple tr. SL Kong (1953)
High on the cliff the dangling temple stands
Where I can pluck stars with my hands
Deep at night I dare not speak aloud
Else I wake the dwellers above the cloud