Again it was a single line that that seeded this tale. The original line was 風吹池面水皺天. However, my Muse was not around and so I let it rest for a day. The next day, I was doodling on the line with my brush and the words from Wang Wei's line, 竹喧歸浣女 (In the bamboo forest, noisy washer-maids returning home) gave impetus of using the legend of Hsi Shih's (西施) discovery as she washed her clothes on the stream by Fan Li, 范蠡 a minister from Yueh who was using the "maiden trap" to seek the release of his master from the State of Wu. The plan succeeded with her beguiling charms befuddling the King of Wu. However, the State of Yueh did not survive long after as it was in turned annexed by the State of Chu.
1. 突來波蕩水皺天 When came a sudden surging wave, crinkling the watery sky,
2.浣女眉鎖怨可憐 A washer maid vexed her brows and elicited a cry of "Woe is me!"
3. 紅紗一條冲捲去 Swept coiling away was a length of red red silk,
4. 豈比滿城傾國烟 Can such a deprivation be greater than the burning homes of a collapsing empire?
5.今朝溪鴻明日鳳 This morning, a brookside swan but of tomorrow, a phoenix shall she be!
6. 歲月歌舞君不倦Time passes and her Lord tires not of her songs and dances.
7.捧心媚態吳宮嬌 This beguiling beauty of the Wu palace clutching her heart in pain bewitches all,
8.懺悔暗揞夜深纏 Only the dead of the night becomes a secret balm to regrets in her tangled heart.
2.浣女眉鎖怨可憐 A washer maid vexed her brows and elicited a cry of "Woe is me!"
3. 紅紗一條冲捲去 Swept coiling away was a length of red red silk,
4. 豈比滿城傾國烟 Can such a deprivation be greater than the burning homes of a collapsing empire?
5.今朝溪鴻明日鳳 This morning, a brookside swan but of tomorrow, a phoenix shall she be!
6. 歲月歌舞君不倦Time passes and her Lord tires not of her songs and dances.
7.捧心媚態吳宮嬌 This beguiling beauty of the Wu palace clutching her heart in pain bewitches all,
8.懺悔暗揞夜深纏 Only the dead of the night becomes a secret balm to regrets in her tangled heart.
1. As this tale is told from an external viewpoint, it could be that the storyteller is Fan Li in which his boat caused the surging of the waves.
2. Dyed silk were washed in a flowing stream to rid of the excess coloring. This was usually done by girls. In literary Chinese, 可憐 is usually meant as "can be loved". There is a story that when Hsi Shih knitted her brows in vexation, she became lovelier and in this context, "became more desirable". However, the next two lines showed that this is not the case.
3. On another level, her life, like the length of red silk being overtaken by external forces.
4. 城 here refers to 姑蘇, the capital of the Wu State.
5. Of course this is exaggeration on my part. Actually, it took her a few years of tutelage to learn the skills. In fact, she excelled and even her teacher, Fan Li befell to her charms . After the State of Wu fell, it was rumored that she had drowned in a river or that she had escaped with Fan Li and spent their rest of their lives on a fishing boat before vanishing from this mortal world.
7. In some versions of the story, Hsi Shih befuddled the King of Wu by feigning an attack of a childhood heart condition whenever she gets too emotionally upset. By clutching her breast and knitting her brows in pain, she became even more bewitching. Hence giving rise to the phrase describe a sickly beauty, 西子捧心 , 孫壽折腰 -- Hsi Shih clutching at her heart and Sun Shou twisting her waist. Also 吳宫 has the same sound as 蜈蚣 - centipede!
8. It can also be translated as deep entanglement.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
2. Dyed silk were washed in a flowing stream to rid of the excess coloring. This was usually done by girls. In literary Chinese, 可憐 is usually meant as "can be loved". There is a story that when Hsi Shih knitted her brows in vexation, she became lovelier and in this context, "became more desirable". However, the next two lines showed that this is not the case.
3. On another level, her life, like the length of red silk being overtaken by external forces.
4. 城 here refers to 姑蘇, the capital of the Wu State.
5. Of course this is exaggeration on my part. Actually, it took her a few years of tutelage to learn the skills. In fact, she excelled and even her teacher, Fan Li befell to her charms . After the State of Wu fell, it was rumored that she had drowned in a river or that she had escaped with Fan Li and spent their rest of their lives on a fishing boat before vanishing from this mortal world.
7. In some versions of the story, Hsi Shih befuddled the King of Wu by feigning an attack of a childhood heart condition whenever she gets too emotionally upset. By clutching her breast and knitting her brows in pain, she became even more bewitching. Hence giving rise to the phrase describe a sickly beauty, 西子捧心 , 孫壽折腰 -- Hsi Shih clutching at her heart and Sun Shou twisting her waist. Also 吳宫 has the same sound as 蜈蚣 - centipede!
8. It can also be translated as deep entanglement.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
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