原作者：
来源別賦（南朝）江淹
译者海外逸士
Essay on Parting
by Jiang Yan of southern dynasties
What’s most gloomy to the soul is the parting experience. Moreover, Qin and Wu are the remotest states. Yan and Song are a thousand miles apart. When spring moss begins to grow or autumn winds suddenly arise, travelers, therefore, will be heartbroken with all sorts of miserable emotions. Winds sough in weird sounds. Clouds spread wide with quaint colors. The boat’s at the waterside, as if frozen there. The coach’s at the hillside, as if hindered on the long journey. As the oar’s deliberately rowed, how can the boat go fast? The horses neigh in cold ceaselessly. Cover up golden goblets; who cares for drink now? Put aside the zither; tears wet the front bar on the coach. Households at home lie in sorrow as if at a loss. Sunlight on the wall moves downward with its color sinking. Moonlight on the pavilion moves up with its brilliance reflected. When seeing red orchid bearing dews and perceiving green Chinese catalpa covered with frost, when walking round the high house shutting up emptiness and touching silk drapery feeling so cold, one can know the traveling person should be wandering even in the dream and can guess his parting soul should be hovering afar. Therefore, the feeling of parting is the same, but conditions are of thousands.
Having tall horses with silvery saddles and crimson coaches with carved axis ready, the host and the guest drink for parting in the tent outside east capital as if bidding the guest farewell in JinGu Garden1, where zithers were played in a gloomy tune, fifes and drums on display, and heartbreaking songs of Yan and Zhao saddened beauties around, where pearls and jade gleam colorfully in late autumn and gauze and brocade show splendor in early spring, where horses alarmed by loud music raise their heads in chewing fodder and fishes with ruddy scales jumped high from deep creeks, and where tears were shed when parting and hearts broken when thinking of solitary journey.
There are swordsmen ashamed of not repaying those for their kindness and young knights intending to return favors as in events happening in Han Kingdom2, in the lavatory of Zhao Kingdom3, in the palace of Wu Kingdom4 and in the marketplace of Yan Kingdom5. They either deserted their loved ones, or left their own countries, or shed tears in final farewell, or wiped bloody eyes staring at each other. They rode away at full gallop without looking back, only rising dusts seen in the wake. They wanted to repay favors using swords without intention of going to the nether world for any price in exchange. But when bells and drums boomed, the color on the face changed6. The heart stopped beating at the death of her own flesh and blood7.
If there is no peace on the border, people join army bringing bows and arrows. The Liao River is unlimited and Mount Yanmen towers into clouds. When the wind into the bower feels warm and the grass in fields smells sweet, when the sun rises in the sky so radiant and dews on the ground glitter with multi-tinge, when scarlet dusts mirror a brilliant tint and green mists look hazy and smoky, and just as hands are raised to hold branches of peach and plum trees, parting is very much unbearable, especially with a beloved one, tears wetting the gauze skirt.
As for departure for the remotest states, how can reunion be possible? Looking at tall trees in homeland and saying the eternal goodbye on the northern bridge, people around the parting person have their souls touched by distress, and friends and relatives weep bitter tears. They can arrange boughs on the ground to sit imparting their regret and show their sorrow by drinking wine. Just on the day when wild geese in autumn fly south and when white frost fall on earth, the parting person grieves and groans at zigzag spots among distant hills and proceeds on and on alongside the long river.
If you live to the west of Ming River and my home is located in Heyang, we bask in morning sun rays with jade on our dress and sit together round an evening brass incense burner. When you go a thousand miles away with a tied ribbon8, it’s pitiable for a fair herb to beget scent in vain9. I feel ashamed facing the zither in my quiet boudoir10 and let the yellow silk curtain darken the high tower11. Spring palace shuts out green color of moss; autumn canopy’s steeped in moonlight; summer bamboo mat’s so cool and the day turns to dusk too slow; the flame in winter lamp is like staying congealed12 and the night is so long. Weaving my song into a silky letter exhausts my tears in sobbing and writing a rondeau poem makes my lone self miserable13.
If there’s a Taoist on Mount Hua, who takes the elixir of life, he becomes an immortal. His talent is great, but he still studies. His art reaches a great stage, but not yet to the utmost. He keeps busy in making divine pills and ignores everything else. He’s firm in determination to finish them in a brass cauldron. Then he rides on a stork into clouds or astride a phoenix to heaven. He can travel a myriad miles in a short time and has a brief separation as if a thousand years elapsed in the human world. Since mortals look upon parting seriously, he takes leave of the host14 lingeringly.
Under heaven there’s a poem of Chinese herbaceous peony15 and a song of a beauty16. There are girls in Sangzhong of Wei State and damsels in Shanggong of Chen State17. When spring grass turns verdant and spring water ripples green, how can the anguish be endurable as seeing you off at Nanpu? When autumn dew looks like pearl and autumn moon like a round jade, when the moon is bright and dew is white, and when time comes and goes, I’m thinking of you again and again after separation from you.
Therefore, people involving in parting are of various sorts, and situations and reasons for parting are greatly different. If there’s separation, there will be regret, full of regret, which makes people’s will lost, spirit terrified, heart agonized and bone tormented. Even if there are superior articles of Yuan and Yun18, and excellent writings of Yan and Le19, or even if there are men of letters in JinGui20 and men of talent in Lantai21, and even if there is the best essay like Lingyun22 or best repartee like in Diaolong23, who has the ability of describing the current conditions of separation or depicting the feelings of eternal parting?
[1] The owner of Jin Gu Garden was Shi Chong of Jin Dynasty. When he wanted to bid a guest farewell, he would do such things as described above.
[2] A swordsman called Ye Zheng wanted to revenge on behalf of Yan Zhongzi and killed the premier Xia Lei of Han Kinigdom.
[3] A man Yu Rang, whose host Zhi was killed by Xiangzi of Zhao Kingdom, wanted to avenge for Zhi. He changed his name and disguised himself and assassinated Xiangzi when he went to the lavatory.
[4] A man Zhuanzhu disguised as a cook hid a dagger in the belly of a fish he cooked and served. When he put the fish down on the table before the king of Wu Kingdom in his palace, he drew out the dagger from the fish and killed the king.
[5] [6] Jingke and Gao Jianli were friends and often drank together in the market place. The crown prince of Yan Kingdom befriended them and asked them to assassinate the king of Qin Kingdom, who would be likely to invade Yan Kingdom. They planned to offer the map of Yan Kingdom to the king of Qin, and hid a dagger in the rolled-up map. Jingke went on the errand, accompanied by another man called Wuyang. When they reached the palace of Qin, the king received them with bells booming and drums resounding. Wuyang was afraid and his face turned pale. The king suspected something wrong and ordered his guards to kill them. Their plan failed. Then Gao Jianli wanted to revenge for them and went to Qin, but didn’t succeed either.
[7] When Ye Zheng killed Xialei (see [2]), he disfigured his face and killed himself so that no one would know who he was. The authorities put his body in the market place, declaring that whoever knew who he was would get a big reward. When his sister Ye Ying knew it and guessed that it was her brother. She thought that she would not let her die without letting people know his name. So she went there to cry over the body and let people know that the hero was his brother Ye Zheng. She, then, killed herself on the spot.
[8] The ribbon was tied to an official seal. It meant that the man went there to be an official.
[9] Fair herb denoted the girl herself. Since her man went away, whatever she had meant nothing to her.
[10] Since her man went away, she would not play the zither any more. She was sorry for the zither, which would be put aside idle.
[11] It meant that she would let the curtain hang there since she would not see her man even if she pulled it aside.
[12] It meant that the flame seemed never to burn out the oil in the lamp like congealed. Time went so slowly.
[13] She embroidered her words in a rondeau poem on a silk cloth and sent to her man.
[14] When he became immortal and flew to heaven, he looked upon the mortals he once lived together as his host.
[15] The poem was one in the Collection of Ancient Poems. When boys and girls were in love, they would recite this poem.
[16] This was a song about a beauty, composed by Li Yannian of Han Dynasty.
[17] There were pretty girls in these states, but here denoting girls in a general sense.
[18] Yuan was Wang Ziyuan and Yun was Yang Ziyun, both writing superior articles.
[19] Yan was Yan An and Le was Xu Le, both writing excellently.
[20] JinGui denoted Jinmamen in Chang An City in Han Dynasty. It was the name of an official bureau, where men of letters gathered to be consulted by the emperor.
[21] Lantai was a place where books were stored and literary seminars were held in Han Dynasty.
[22] Sima Xiangru of Han Dynasty wrote the “Essay of Giant”. When the emperor read it, he said that it made him feel like “riding in clouds”, which was what the word Lingyun really meant.
[23] There was a book named “Wen Xin Diao Long”, in which the repartee was used for reasoning.
添加新评论
相关文章：
GRE议论文范文-1
Essay on Autumn
Mourn for Iris Chang
Postword1 of Yanlingshi2 on “Six Chapters of Floating Life”3
Elegiac Speech to Crab
原作者：
来源別賦（南朝）江淹
译者海外逸士
Essay on Parting
by Jiang Yan of southern dynasties
What’s most gloomy to the soul is the parting experience. Moreover, Qin and Wu are the remotest states. Yan and Song are a thousand miles apart. When spring moss begins to grow or autumn winds suddenly arise, travelers, therefore, will be heartbroken with all sorts of miserable emotions. Winds sough in weird sounds. Clouds spread wide with quaint colors. The boat’s at the waterside, as if frozen there. The coach’s at the hillside, as if hindered on the long journey. As the oar’s deliberately rowed, how can the boat go fast? The horses neigh in cold ceaselessly. Cover up golden goblets; who cares for drink now? Put aside the zither; tears wet the front bar on the coach. Households at home lie in sorrow as if at a loss. Sunlight on the wall moves downward with its color sinking. Moonlight on the pavilion moves up with its brilliance reflected. When seeing red orchid bearing dews and perceiving green Chinese catalpa covered with frost, when walking round the high house shutting up emptiness and touching silk drapery feeling so cold, one can know the traveling person should be wandering even in the dream and can guess his parting soul should be hovering afar. Therefore, the feeling of parting is the same, but conditions are of thousands.
Having tall horses with silvery saddles and crimson coaches with carved axis ready, the host and the guest drink for parting in the tent outside east capital as if bidding the guest farewell in JinGu Garden1, where zithers were played in a gloomy tune, fifes and drums on display, and heartbreaking songs of Yan and Zhao saddened beauties around, where pearls and jade gleam colorfully in late autumn and gauze and brocade show splendor in early spring, where horses alarmed by loud music raise their heads in chewing fodder and fishes with ruddy scales jumped high from deep creeks, and where tears were shed when parting and hearts broken when thinking of solitary journey.
There are swordsmen ashamed of not repaying those for their kindness and young knights intending to return favors as in events happening in Han Kingdom2, in the lavatory of Zhao Kingdom3, in the palace of Wu Kingdom4 and in the marketplace of Yan Kingdom5. They either deserted their loved ones, or left their own countries, or shed tears in final farewell, or wiped bloody eyes staring at each other. They rode away at full gallop without looking back, only rising dusts seen in the wake. They wanted to repay favors using swords without intention of going to the nether world for any price in exchange. But when bells and drums boomed, the color on the face changed6. The heart stopped beating at the death of her own flesh and blood7.
If there is no peace on the border, people join army bringing bows and arrows. The Liao River is unlimited and Mount Yanmen towers into clouds. When the wind into the bower feels warm and the grass in fields smells sweet, when the sun rises in the sky so radiant and dews on the ground glitter with multi-tinge, when scarlet dusts mirror a brilliant tint and green mists look hazy and smoky, and just as hands are raised to hold branches of peach and plum trees, parting is very much unbearable, especially with a beloved one, tears wetting the gauze skirt.
As for departure for the remotest states, how can reunion be possible? Looking at tall trees in homeland and saying the eternal goodbye on the northern bridge, people around the parting person have their souls touched by distress, and friends and relatives weep bitter tears. They can arrange boughs on the ground to sit imparting their regret and show their sorrow by drinking wine. Just on the day when wild geese in autumn fly south and when white frost fall on earth, the parting person grieves and groans at zigzag spots among distant hills and proceeds on and on alongside the long river.
If you live to the west of Ming River and my home is located in Heyang, we bask in morning sun rays with jade on our dress and sit together round an evening brass incense burner. When you go a thousand miles away with a tied ribbon8, it’s pitiable for a fair herb to beget scent in vain9. I feel ashamed facing the zither in my quiet boudoir10 and let the yellow silk curtain darken the high tower11. Spring palace shuts out green color of moss; autumn canopy’s steeped in moonlight; summer bamboo mat’s so cool and the day turns to dusk too slow; the flame in winter lamp is like staying congealed12 and the night is so long. Weaving my song into a silky letter exhausts my tears in sobbing and writing a rondeau poem makes my lone self miserable13.
If there’s a Taoist on Mount Hua, who takes the elixir of life, he becomes an immortal. His talent is great, but he still studies. His art reaches a great stage, but not yet to the utmost. He keeps busy in making divine pills and ignores everything else. He’s firm in determination to finish them in a brass cauldron. Then he rides on a stork into clouds or astride a phoenix to heaven. He can travel a myriad miles in a short time and has a brief separation as if a thousand years elapsed in the human world. Since mortals look upon parting seriously, he takes leave of the host14 lingeringly.
Under heaven there’s a poem of Chinese herbaceous peony15 and a song of a beauty16. There are girls in Sangzhong of Wei State and damsels in Shanggong of Chen State17. When spring grass turns verdant and spring water ripples green, how can the anguish be endurable as seeing you off at Nanpu? When autumn dew looks like pearl and autumn moon like a round jade, when the moon is bright and dew is white, and when time comes and goes, I’m thinking of you again and again after separation from you.
Therefore, people involving in parting are of various sorts, and situations and reasons for parting are greatly different. If there’s separation, there will be regret, full of regret, which makes people’s will lost, spirit terrified, heart agonized and bone tormented. Even if there are superior articles of Yuan and Yun18, and excellent writings of Yan and Le19, or even if there are men of letters in JinGui20 and men of talent in Lantai21, and even if there is the best essay like Lingyun22 or best repartee like in Diaolong23, who has the ability of describing the current conditions of separation or depicting the feelings of eternal parting?
[1] The owner of Jin Gu Garden was Shi Chong of Jin Dynasty. When he wanted to bid a guest farewell, he would do such things as described above.
[2] A swordsman called Ye Zheng wanted to revenge on behalf of Yan Zhongzi and killed the premier Xia Lei of Han Kinigdom.
[3] A man Yu Rang, whose host Zhi was killed by Xiangzi of Zhao Kingdom, wanted to avenge for Zhi. He changed his name and disguised himself and assassinated Xiangzi when he went to the lavatory.
[4] A man Zhuanzhu disguised as a cook hid a dagger in the belly of a fish he cooked and served. When he put the fish down on the table before the king of Wu Kingdom in his palace, he drew out the dagger from the fish and killed the king.
[5] [6] Jingke and Gao Jianli were friends and often drank together in the market place. The crown prince of Yan Kingdom befriended them and asked them to assassinate the king of Qin Kingdom, who would be likely to invade Yan Kingdom. They planned to offer the map of Yan Kingdom to the king of Qin, and hid a dagger in the rolled-up map. Jingke went on the errand, accompanied by another man called Wuyang. When they reached the palace of Qin, the king received them with bells booming and drums resounding. Wuyang was afraid and his face turned pale. The king suspected something wrong and ordered his guards to kill them. Their plan failed. Then Gao Jianli wanted to revenge for them and went to Qin, but didn’t succeed either.
[7] When Ye Zheng killed Xialei (see [2]), he disfigured his face and killed himself so that no one would know who he was. The authorities put his body in the market place, declaring that whoever knew who he was would get a big reward. When his sister Ye Ying knew it and guessed that it was her brother. She thought that she would not let her die without letting people know his name. So she went there to cry over the body and let people know that the hero was his brother Ye Zheng. She, then, killed herself on the spot.
[8] The ribbon was tied to an official seal. It meant that the man went there to be an official.
[9] Fair herb denoted the girl herself. Since her man went away, whatever she had meant nothing to her.
[10] Since her man went away, she would not play the zither any more. She was sorry for the zither, which would be put aside idle.
[11] It meant that she would let the curtain hang there since she would not see her man even if she pulled it aside.
[12] It meant that the flame seemed never to burn out the oil in the lamp like congealed. Time went so slowly.
[13] She embroidered her words in a rondeau poem on a silk cloth and sent to her man.
[14] When he became immortal and flew to heaven, he looked upon the mortals he once lived together as his host.
[15] The poem was one in the Collection of Ancient Poems. When boys and girls were in love, they would recite this poem.
[16] This was a song about a beauty, composed by Li Yannian of Han Dynasty.
[17] There were pretty girls in these states, but here denoting girls in a general sense.
[18] Yuan was Wang Ziyuan and Yun was Yang Ziyun, both writing superior articles.
[19] Yan was Yan An and Le was Xu Le, both writing excellently.
[20] JinGui denoted Jinmamen in Chang An City in Han Dynasty. It was the name of an official bureau, where men of letters gathered to be consulted by the emperor.
[21] Lantai was a place where books were stored and literary seminars were held in Han Dynasty.
[22] Sima Xiangru of Han Dynasty wrote the “Essay of Giant”. When the emperor read it, he said that it made him feel like “riding in clouds”, which was what the word Lingyun really meant.
[23] There was a book named “Wen Xin Diao Long”, in which the repartee was used for reasoning.
添加新评论
相关文章：
GRE议论文范文-1
Essay on Autumn
Mourn for Iris Chang
Postword1 of Yanlingshi2 on “Six Chapters of Floating Life”3
Elegiac Speech to Crab
