昨夜雨疏風驟
濃睡不消殘酒
試問捲簾人
卻道海棠依舊
知否
知否
應是綠肥紅瘦
Tune: Like a Dream Li Qing Zhao (1084-1151) 江紹倫譯
Last night rain fell intermittently with sudden blows
I slept soundly without finishing my remaining fine brew
This morning I ask my maid who is rolling up the screen
The geraniums are fine she says with a beam
D’you know
D’you know
They ought to grow leaves thick and green and red stems lean
Should 海棠 be Begonia?
YK
Thanks for the reminder. You might be correct. But begonia grows in authumn in China whereas geranium that is seen so much in Toronto grows in spring and summer. By the way if you could find the right word for mui Id be very grateful. No one on HK could tell me the English for this very common plant,
Hi SL,
According to http://baike.baidu.com/view/35536.htm
秋海棠 is Begonia.
For details on 海棠 see
http://baike.baidu.com/view/21113.htm,
which mainly refers to the genus Malus.
YK
may i post for comments my attempted rendition of this beautiful song ci, please. thanks.
【如夢令】 春晚 李清照(1084-1151)
昨夜雨疏風驟
濃睡不消殘酒
試問捲簾人
卻道海棠依舊
知否
知否
應是綠肥紅瘦
Tune: Song Like A Dream– One Spring Night Li Qingzhao (1084-1155)
Last night, gusty winds put intermittent rains to flight.
Drunk, I slept soundly and did not finish the wine outright.
I ask (this morning) my maid rolling up the curtains,
“Yes, M’dam, the begonias are still in bloom, for certain.”
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know —
The leaves should be thick and green,
The red flowers and stems lean.
frank
the last line in my rendition should read:
‘The flowers, red and stems, lean.’
frank
hi,
‘海棠’ in 卻道海棠依舊 should be ‘crab-apples’.
accordingly, my line is revised to:
‘“Yes, M’dam, the crab-apples are still in bloom, for certain.”’