金樽清酒斗十千 玉盘珍馐直万钱
欲渡黄河冰塞川 将登太行雪满山
闲来垂钓碧溪上 忽复乘舟梦日边
行路难 行路难 多歧路 今安在
长风破浪会有时 直挂云帆济沧海
translated by YK Chan ( 5 Oct 2009):
Trekking Pains Li Bai
Wine in a golden cup costs an arm and a leg;
food served in a jade platter makes you bankrupt quick.
Laying my cup down with chopsticks in hand, I still fancy the eats not;
my sword drawn: I look around in vain and at tort.
To cross Yellow River giant icebergs block;
the track up Mount Taiheng fully blizzard clogged.
Rather, better be an angler at leisure upon emerald brooks,
or a dreamer boating where the sun looks.
Trekking is pain and ache, ache and pain;
from mistaken routes where is my way?
A time would come for riding with the wind on the waves,
with sails hung high crossing the broad straights.
Translated by KC Lee (4 October 2009):
The Rough Road
Laid out on the table are bottles of the rarest vintage and my most favorite dishes presented in the finest china.
Yet in frustration I abandoned my glass and laid down my utensils.
Instead, I drew my sword. But all I could manage was to stare emptily into the distance.
Even if I want to cross the Yellow River , it is clogged with ice. As for my plan to traverse TaiHang Shan, it is thwarted by fierce snow storms.
But then I recalled the stories of Lu fishing leisurely by the creek, and Yi dreaming himself sailing past the Sun and the Moon. Before they were eventually recognized by the Emperor and accomplished great deeds for the country.
No doubt the road into my future is rough and uncertain. Yet I may still have my own day. Riding the tall winds to cut across the far oceans.
【行路難三首之一】
金樽清酒斗十千﹐玉盤珍羞值萬錢。
停杯投箸不能食﹐拔劍四顧心茫然。
欲渡黃河冰塞川﹐將登太行雪滿山。
閑來垂釣碧溪上﹐忽復乘舟夢日邊。
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。
Journeying Is Hard! (No. 1 of 3) Li Bai
A small fortune is exquisite wine in bottles of gold,
And fine food on jade plates is worth pieces of coin untold.
I low’r my cup, drop my chopsticks, my appetite has drain’d.
Unsheathing my sword, I look ’round at a loss and in vain!
I’d cross the Yellow River, but blocked by ice I can’t go.
I’d climb Mount Taihang, but the sky’s darken’d by drifting snow.
Leisurely, I cast my fishing line into a blue stream;
Yet, how I long to take a boat and in the sun day-dream!
Journeying is hard.
Journeying is hard!
To deal with forks in the road, tell me how.
The detours and diversions, where’re they now?
One day, I’ll ride the long wind, break the waves, and will be free.
Hoisting my sail to touch the clouds, I’ll cross the deep blue sea!
(tr. frank c w yue)