《To Lu Xu Zhon from Mt. Lu》 Li Bai
我本楚狂人 I am an oddity from the south
凤歌笑孔丘 Confucius jokes I sung
手持绿玉杖 A jade green bamboo cane I hold on
朝别黄鹤楼 I leave the Yellow Crane Tower at dawn Continue reading
《To Lu Xu Zhon from Mt. Lu》 Li Bai
我本楚狂人 I am an oddity from the south
凤歌笑孔丘 Confucius jokes I sung
手持绿玉杖 A jade green bamboo cane I hold on
朝别黄鹤楼 I leave the Yellow Crane Tower at dawn Continue reading
Tr. YK Chan 陈耀国译
* Note: 亦作”子夜吳歌”。Also known as “Ziye’s Song of Wu”.
“子夜” (Midnight) was the name of a woman in the Jin 晉 Dynasty (265 – 420), who allegedly started this ballad style of poem in southern China.
Maiden Luofu in the land of Qin,
Picks mulberry leaves by the river.
Her pale arms stretched across the green bough,
In bright sunlight her red dress shimmers.
Silkworms famished I’d like to go,
Ought not to loiter here your five-horse carriage.
夏歌
镜湖三百里 菡萏发荷花
五月西施采 人看隘若耶1
回舟不待月 归去越王家
Teeming with lotus blossoms nigh.
In the fifth moon when Xi Shi the beauty picks the flowers,
Onlookers amass in Yuoye1 for such a spectacular.
Before moonrise her boat returns,
To the royal house as heads turn.
___________________
1 Xi Shi’s hometown
冬歌
明朝驿使发 一夜絮征袍
素手抽针冷 那堪把剪刀
裁缝寄远道 几日到临洮
Next morn the courier is setting off;
My warrior’s gown has to be sewn tonight.
Slender hands pulling a chilly needle;
Those scissors can hardly be held tight.
To send the tailored garment far away,
When will it reach Lintao and be alright?
Yu Fong-ying 余晃英 (WYK1961) recently started me to think about getting Chinese verse forms adapted for the English language as some worthy contribution to cross-cultural fertilization. Both the sonnet and the haiku have been successfully adapted into English from Italy and Japan, respectively. Maybe some Chinese verse forms too can be similarly adapted.
I picked Li Bai’s best known 4-line poem 夜思 as a first attempt at this adaptation. Over the Easter long weekend, with Fong-ying’s collaboration, we arrived at the version below to start the ball rolling for anyone who is interested in taking up this challenge. It does not have to be a translation. It can be a composition in the form of a 4-line pentasyllabic verse, 五绝 (wujue), preferrably in monosyllables and with the rhyme scheme of abcb, but any 4-line pentasyllabic verse will do. A 4-line septasyllabic verse, 七绝 (qijue), is fine too. Also see Fong-ying’s wujue English composition “This Place I Roam” below. –YK Chan (WYK1965)
夜思 李白 Nocturnal Thoughts Li Bai
(五绝) (Wujue : A four-line pentasyllabic verse) Tr. by YK Chan & FY Yu
床前明月光, Bed side, Bright Moon shines;
疑是地上霜. Ground frost comes so fine?
举头望明月, Up at Moon I look;
低头思故乡. Down, for home I pine.
Wujue: This Place I Roam 五绝: 此地堪浪游
By YU Fong-ying 余晃英作 陈耀国译
Red the maple leaves 枫叶红北国
White hilltops like dome 穹顶白岭头|
Homeland now it is 新乡兹落户
This new place I roam 此地堪浪游
金樽清酒鬥十千 玉盤珍羞直萬錢
停杯投箸不能食 撥劍四顧心茫然
欲渡黃河冰塞川 將登太行雪滿山
閑來垂釣碧溪上 忽複乘舟夢日邊
行路難 行路難 多歧路 今安在
長風破浪會有時 直掛雲帆濟滄海
The Road of Life is Difficult Li Bai (701-762) 江紹倫譯
Golden bottled wine costs then thousand coins a barrel
Choice food in jade plates the same price to follow
Drinks ceased I raise my chopsticks in vain
My sword drawn I look around only to feel empty pain
I wish to cross the Yellow River it is frozen
I wish to climb Mount Taihang it is full of snow
In idle I enjoy time fishing by the blue stream
And dream of sailing a boat into the sunny horizon
The road of life is difficult
The road of life is difficult
Full of diverting paths
Whither should I go
The time will come whence I ride strong winds to cleave the waves
I will hoist my sail tall to triumph in the high sea.
棄我去者昨日之日不可留
亂我心者今日之日多煩憂
長風萬里送秋雁
對此可以酣高樓
蓬萊文章建安骨
中間小謝又清發
俱懷逸興壯思飛
欲上青天覽日月
抽刀斷水水更流
舉懷銷愁愁更愁
人生在世不稱意
明朝散發弄扁舟
Farewell to Uncle Yun at Xuanzhou Li Bai (701-762) 江紹倫譯
What has deserted me yesterday I would not retain
What is disturbing me today its worry will not stay
See how wild geese ride the autumn wind ten thousand li away
A grand sight that calls for rounds of wine to celebrate
While your writings equal the powers of ancient poet saints
My essays are like little Xie’s prose simple and plain
We both share the same ambitions aiming high
Wishing to pick the moon down from the sky
I try to sever the river with my sword its torrents speed up the flow
I try to drown my sorrows with wine more sorrows come on tow
My life in this world is not without despair
Tomorrow let’s sail our boat freely with loosened hair
峨眉山月半輪秋
影入平羌江水流
夜發清溪向三峡
思君不見下渝州
Song of Moon O’er Mt. O Mei Li Bai (701-762) 江紹倫譯
The moon o’er Mt. O Mei appears like autumn’s golden brow
She casts fancy shadows on the meandering river as it quietly flows
I will set out from Clear Stream for the Three Gorges tonight
How I miss you when the tall cliffs keep you out of my sight
眾鳥高飛盡
孤雲獨去閑
相看兩不厭
只有敬亭山
Watching Jingting Peak in Solitude Li Bai (701-762) 江紹倫譯
Birds stop before reaching your majestic peak so high
Solitary clouds drift over you free and nigh
Where I can tirelessly watch birds and clouds the wonderful view
Here when I’m sitting in front of you
問余何意栖碧山
笑而不答心自閑
桃花流水窅然去
别有天地非人間
Conversation in the Hills Li Bai (701-762) 江紹倫譯
I dwell in among green hills someone asks why
My mind at ease with a smile I give no reply
To watch the stream carrying peach blossoms pass my window by
This place is too wonderful for man it is a paradise
誰家玉笛暗飛聲 散入春風滿洛城
此夜曲中聞折柳 何人不起故園情
Flute Music in a Spring Night at Louyang Li Bai(761-762) 江紹倫譯
From whose flute this music is stirring the air
Carried by the east wind to Louyang it enters everybody’s ear
‘Tis the farewell song Willow Branches that’s heard tonight
Who would not feel for our lost motherland nostalgia surge high