所謂「酬世」文字，就是在特定的場合，為一個人際交往的目的，為特定的人而寫的東西。也即是包含了時、地、人、事的四個因素。「酬」不應只是應酬的意思，其中還有應對、酬謝、報償、行禮等等的含義。我不懂寫舊詩，就湊合五字或七字句，成一作品，送給人，表示對他或她的敬重、鼓勵、祝賀、哀悼、思念等感情，藉以抒發與人交往相處的感受。這種文字，並不過時，用處是在特別的場合，加添善意，美意和個人特色。比送一張 Hallmark 咭來得親切。以下各則依性質分類，有些姓名故意不列，一两處有少改。
溫哥華二Ｏ一三年七月
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夢中作 北宋 歐陽修(1007~1086)
夜涼吹笛千山月 路暗迷人百種花 棋罷不知人換世 酒闌無奈客思家
Written in My Dream Ouyang Xiu
My flute tunes invite the moon to shine on a thousand hills
The roads a maze with hundreds of flowers bloom in goodwill
Whence our chess game ends the world has changed we know it not
Drinking in leisure does not keep me from pining for home a lot
對棋與道源至草堂寺 宋 王安石(1021~1086) Continue reading
Toronto in July One
I’ve come to join the fun
Drawn by waves of sound and noises
Amid screams jeers and demanding voices
For rights to differ and to expose Continue reading
《四时田园杂兴》__范成大 (1226-1193)
A Selection of Rustic Poems by Fan Cheng Da (1126-1193) Translated by Kong Shiu Loon
Summer (1)
梅子金黄杏子肥 麥花雪白菜花稀 日長籬落無人過 惟有蜻蜒蛱蝶飛
Ripe plums golden almonds in bounty
Wheat flowers like snow vegetable flowers scanty
Long solitary days no one passes my hedged-in space
Except dragonflies and butterflies dash enjoying their plays Continue reading
Nature’s sky seldom feature a single colour
Nor does the sun come out in one manner Continue reading
Eighteen Refrains on Tartar Pipes 7, 8, 9 Cai Yan [Cai Wenji] (ca. 177-?)
Tr. YK Chan 陈耀国译
7
日暮风悲兮边声四起，不知愁心兮说向谁是？
At dusk whining winds on all sides of frontier start,
To whom shall I bare my mournful heart?
原野萧条兮烽戍万里，俗贱老弱兮少壮为美。
By destitute rampart outskirts beacons and tents stretch mile after mile.
The weak and old mistreated but the young and strong held up in style.
逐有水草兮安家葺垒，牛羊满野兮聚如蜂蚁。
Following water and grassland to settle as homestead in tents,
Herding cattle and sheep like bees and ants in open land.
草尽水弱兮羊马皆徙，七拍流恨兮恶居于此。
Sheep and horses driven again when grass and water exhaust,
At seventh refrain I loathe why I reside here and find myself lost.
8
为天有眼兮何不见我独漂流？为神有灵兮缘何处我天南海北头？
If an all-seeing eye is watching why it sees not I’m alone drifting?
If the Almighty keeps order why my world’s upside-down shifting?
我不负天兮天何配我殊匹？我不负神兮神何殛我越荒州？
I haven’t offended the one high above why am I betrothed into a foreign race?
I haven’t neglected the Almighty why am I banished to the wilderness without trace?
制兹八拍兮拟排忧，奈何曲成兮心转愁。
To relieve myself from sorrows this eight refrain ends,
Yet when the melody ends to melancholy my heart tends.
9
天无涯兮地无边，我心愁兮亦复然。
Heaven has no end, earth has no brink,
Melancholy in me is endless also I think.
生倏忽兮如白驹之过隙，然不得欢乐兮当我之盛年。
Life passes suddenly as it is ephemeral and toyed,
Yet in my prime I am not overwhelmed with joy.
怨兮欲问天，天苍苍兮上无缘。
Regretful, I wish to learn from heaven high,
Yet in vast space no reason’s found to confide.
举头仰望兮空云烟，九拍怀情兮谁与传？
Looking far above are just mists and grey,
Sentiments at ninth refrain to whom shall I convey?
Futile Frown* Cao Xueqin (~1715-1763) 枉凝眉
Trans. by YK Chan 陈耀国
一个是阆苑仙葩，One is a fairyland fresh flower;
一个是美玉无瑕。the other, a flawless jadestone empower’d.
若说没奇缘， If not for mysterious destiny,
今生偏又遇着他；how in this life we again meet each other;
若说有奇缘， If destiny really acts mysteriously,
如何心事终虚化？How’s that our wishes come to naught ever?
一个枉自嗟呀， One sighs in futility;
一个空劳牵挂。 one uselessly harbors anxiety.
一个是水中月， One is a moon mirrored in water,
一个是镜中花。 one is a flower seen in the mirror.
想眼中能有多少泪珠儿，How many pearly tears from the eye
still seep,
怎经得秋流到冬尽， throughout autumn till winter’s end,
春流到夏！ or throughout spring till summer’s
encounter’d?
Music composed by Wang Liping 王立平 (1941- ) for a Chinese TV series of Dream of Red Mansions
Originally sung by Chen Li 陈力 (soprano):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpzhz0UVdDQ
Guzheng arrangement古筝曲: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvupUuXW5cY
__________________________
* As the lyrics of one of the songs narrated in Chapter 5 of Cao’s Dream of Red Mansions. The songs set the fate of the twelve belles as narrated in the following chapters of the novel. (Ref: http://baike.baidu.com/view/50556.htm)
賴恬昌老師書法
《四时田园杂兴》__范成大 (1226-1193)
A Selection of Rustic Poems by Fan Cheng Da (1126-1193)
Translated by Kong Shiu Loon
春日 (1)
柳花深巷午雞聲
桑葉尖新绿未成
坐睡覺來無一事
满窗晴日看蠶生
Spring (1)
At noon I hear cockerel calls in the Lane of Willow Flower
New mulberry leaves are showing green tips this hour
Waking from a drowse in my chair I enjoy life at ease
Outside the sunny window silkworms are breaking free
春日 (3)
高田二麦接山青
傍水低田绿未耕
桃奇满村春似锦
踏歌椎鼓过清明
Spring (3)
The high field wheat’s colors are matching mountain greens
Down the valley paddy rice their shoots a verdant sheen
Aglow with fruit tree flowers the village is picturesque in spring
People drum and dance with songs at Festival Qing Ming Continue reading
Song of the Red Bean* Cao Xueqin (1715 — 1763/1724 — 1764)
Translated by YK Chan (December 2009); revised June 2013
HongDou CI
My bleeding heart and tears of desperation drip endlessly like red beans dropping;
Yet, forever blooming spring willows and flowers are in full view at this picturesque dwelling.
Tossing and turning after dusk for that storm strikes at the lace-screen window,
I forget not at all recent and past sorrow.
Swallowing not delicious rice and fine wine, they choke down my throat;
Looking into infinity the ornate mirror reflects only my meagerness and despair.
My frown can’t be unlocked; I endure the long dark night not.
Ah! It’s just like a green mountain that’s only vaguely veiled in fog,
Or a meandering emerald stream that can’t be block’d!
——————————
*The ‘red bean’, 红豆 hongdou, here really is the jequirity bean, which is produced by the leguminous jequirity plant (Abrus precatorius, cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrus_precatorius) and used often in Chinese poetry as a love token—相思豆 xiangsi dou, the love bean, e.g. 王维 (701-761) Wang Wei’s poem 相思 Xiangsi.
Xiangsi 相思 denotes a special yearning for a loved one, from whom the lover is separated. Cao’s 红豆詞 HongDou Ci (Song of the Red Bean) is from his famed Dream of Red Mansions. It was written as a poem for the protagonist, 贾宝玉 Jia Baoyu, to sing after he was separated from his lover, 林黛玉 Lin Daiyu. It appears in Chapter 28 of this classic novel.
Music composed by Liu XueAn 刘雪庵 (1905-1985)
Guzheng solo:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NuRGlo2_L-4
José Carreras (tenor) performance:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSs1ciW_lUA&feature=related
Black Rain Prelude
At hours two seventeen
I woke to see the sky in a web of sheen Continue reading