漁父1辭 - 楚辭2 The Fisherman's Song - Songs of Chu
I found two other translation of this "song". For those who are interested, one is in English from a Korean blog and the other, a Cantonese interpretation which I find to be very succinct and delightful.
http://koreabridge.net/post/qu-yuan-%E2%80%93-fisherman%E2%80%99s-lyrical-poem-kuiwon
http://chrisleung1954.blogspot.com/2014/02/blog-post_17.html
Translation is difficult due to cultural differences in the source and target language. I shall attempt to give a more literal and accurate translation given along the side of the original. A more polished and natural version in the target language is given at the end.
屈原3既放4
Ch'ü Yuan was let go.
遊於江潭
Wandering leisurely along rivers and lakes
行吟5澤6畔
While walking and sighing along the banks
顏色7憔悴.
Looking haggard
形容枯槁,
appearing withered
漁父見而問之曰
An elderly fisherman saw and asked him,
子8非三閭9大夫10與
Are you not a feudal lord of the Three Great Clans?11
何故至於斯
Why are did you come here?
屈原曰
Ch'ü Yuan said,
舉世皆濁我獨清
The entire world is polluted, I am only pure
眾人皆醉我獨醒是
The people are drunk, I am only sober
是見放
you see my exile.
魚父曰
The elderly fisherman said
聖人不凝滯於物而能舉世推移
Saints, not because of things would freeze and make them sluggish. Moreover able to push and shove the world.
世人皆濁何不淈泥而揚其波
people in the world are polluted, then why not stir the mud and raise the waves?
眾人皆醉何不餔12其糟而歠13其釃14
The masses are drunk why not eat its sediment and suck at its filtered wine?
何顧深想思高舉自令放為
Why care so much in your deep thoughts to become lofty and cause yourself to be exiled?
屈原曰
Ch'ü Yuan said,
我聞之新沐15者必彈冠16
I hear that the newly ones who had cleaned their hair would flick their caps [to rid of the dust]
新浴15者必振衣
Those who cleaned their bodies would flap their clothes
安能以身之察察
How can then the body that is spotless
受物之汶汶者乎
be suffered by things that are impure?
寧赴湘流葬於魚腹中,
rather that I would meet the waters of River Xiang and be buried inside the fish bellies.
安能以皓皓之白而蒙世俗之塵埃乎
How can the purity of whiteness be obscured by the dirt of the vulgar world?
漁父莞爾而笑鼓枻而去
The elderly fisherman with a smile and a laugh, rowing the oar and left.
乃歌曰
Then he sang
滄浪17之水清兮可以濯我纓18
Alas, if the waves are clean, I can wash my tassel
滄浪之水濁兮可以濯我足
Alas, if the waves are dirty, I can wash my feet
遂去不復與言
Thus left and did not return nor replied.
Ch'ü Yuan was let go of his post and was wandering without any care amongst the rivers and lakes. While strolling and sighing along the banks, he was looking haggard and appeared to be a shadow of his former self. An elderly fisherman saw him and asked,
"Are you not a Lord from the Three Great Clans? Why are you here?"
Ch'ü Yuan replied,
"The world is polluted but not me. All intoxicated but only I, am sober. Hence what you see is my exile."
The fisherman remarked,
"Nothing can hold the enlightened back. They can change the world. If all the men are polluted why not stir the mud to make it even muddier? If the multitudes are intoxicated, why not eat the wine sediment and imbue its poor quality? Why do you have to think so loftily to become so special that you get yourself exiled?"
Ch'ü Yuan explained,
"I hear those who newly washed their hair always flick the dust off their caps; those with a cleansed body would flap their clothes to rid of the dust first. How could I? With cleanliness, how can I allow things of impurity be near me? I rather jump into the River Xiang and become fish food! How can I let the dirt of the vulgar world cover my purity?"
The fisherman gave a smile and with a laugh started to sing,
"Alas, if the waves are clean, I'll wash my balding hair. Alas if the waves are dirty, I'll wash my feet!"
Thus the fisherman left and did not return, no longer caring for anymore conversation.
1. Cannot be translated as "father". It is a common honorific term of address to an elderly man.
2. Also known as "Songs/Verses of the South" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Ci
3. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu_Yuan
4. Here "let go" means that he was exiled.
5. It can also mean to sing or in a tone of reciting poetry. Given the context, "singing" would not be appropriate since he was exiled. Recitation of poetry is another possibility since he was a poet. Perhaps he was also composing a poem of his own.
6. Any place where water is gathered naturally. Therefore, a pond, a lake or even marshes and swamps can be a possibility. To translate this as well, would be considered redundant in English.
7. The modern meaning is "color". Here it refers to the color in his face.
8. Here it means "you" and not "son" or "master"
9. A unit containing 25 families. Here it means the three clans that made up the royal house of the State of Chu, the 屈, 景 and 昭
10. Here it means a senior official of feudal China and not a doctor!
Translation is difficult due to cultural differences in the source and target language. I shall attempt to give a more literal and accurate translation given along the side of the original. A more polished and natural version in the target language is given at the end.
屈原3既放4
Ch'ü Yuan was let go.
遊於江潭
Wandering leisurely along rivers and lakes
行吟5澤6畔
While walking and sighing along the banks
顏色7憔悴.
Looking haggard
形容枯槁,
appearing withered
漁父見而問之曰
An elderly fisherman saw and asked him,
子8非三閭9大夫10與
Are you not a feudal lord of the Three Great Clans?11
何故至於斯
Why are did you come here?
屈原曰
Ch'ü Yuan said,
舉世皆濁我獨清
The entire world is polluted, I am only pure
眾人皆醉我獨醒是
The people are drunk, I am only sober
是見放
you see my exile.
魚父曰
The elderly fisherman said
聖人不凝滯於物而能舉世推移
Saints, not because of things would freeze and make them sluggish. Moreover able to push and shove the world.
世人皆濁何不淈泥而揚其波
people in the world are polluted, then why not stir the mud and raise the waves?
眾人皆醉何不餔12其糟而歠13其釃14
The masses are drunk why not eat its sediment and suck at its filtered wine?
何顧深想思高舉自令放為
Why care so much in your deep thoughts to become lofty and cause yourself to be exiled?
屈原曰
Ch'ü Yuan said,
我聞之新沐15者必彈冠16
I hear that the newly ones who had cleaned their hair would flick their caps [to rid of the dust]
新浴15者必振衣
Those who cleaned their bodies would flap their clothes
安能以身之察察
How can then the body that is spotless
受物之汶汶者乎
be suffered by things that are impure?
寧赴湘流葬於魚腹中,
rather that I would meet the waters of River Xiang and be buried inside the fish bellies.
安能以皓皓之白而蒙世俗之塵埃乎
How can the purity of whiteness be obscured by the dirt of the vulgar world?
漁父莞爾而笑鼓枻而去
The elderly fisherman with a smile and a laugh, rowing the oar and left.
乃歌曰
Then he sang
滄浪17之水清兮可以濯我纓18
Alas, if the waves are clean, I can wash my tassel
滄浪之水濁兮可以濯我足
Alas, if the waves are dirty, I can wash my feet
遂去不復與言
Thus left and did not return nor replied.
Ch'ü Yuan was let go of his post and was wandering without any care amongst the rivers and lakes. While strolling and sighing along the banks, he was looking haggard and appeared to be a shadow of his former self. An elderly fisherman saw him and asked,
"Are you not a Lord from the Three Great Clans? Why are you here?"
Ch'ü Yuan replied,
"The world is polluted but not me. All intoxicated but only I, am sober. Hence what you see is my exile."
The fisherman remarked,
"Nothing can hold the enlightened back. They can change the world. If all the men are polluted why not stir the mud to make it even muddier? If the multitudes are intoxicated, why not eat the wine sediment and imbue its poor quality? Why do you have to think so loftily to become so special that you get yourself exiled?"
Ch'ü Yuan explained,
"I hear those who newly washed their hair always flick the dust off their caps; those with a cleansed body would flap their clothes to rid of the dust first. How could I? With cleanliness, how can I allow things of impurity be near me? I rather jump into the River Xiang and become fish food! How can I let the dirt of the vulgar world cover my purity?"
The fisherman gave a smile and with a laugh started to sing,
"Alas, if the waves are clean, I'll wash my balding hair. Alas if the waves are dirty, I'll wash my feet!"
Thus the fisherman left and did not return, no longer caring for anymore conversation.
1. Cannot be translated as "father". It is a common honorific term of address to an elderly man.
2. Also known as "Songs/Verses of the South" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Ci
3. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu_Yuan
4. Here "let go" means that he was exiled.
5. It can also mean to sing or in a tone of reciting poetry. Given the context, "singing" would not be appropriate since he was exiled. Recitation of poetry is another possibility since he was a poet. Perhaps he was also composing a poem of his own.
6. Any place where water is gathered naturally. Therefore, a pond, a lake or even marshes and swamps can be a possibility. To translate this as well, would be considered redundant in English.
7. The modern meaning is "color". Here it refers to the color in his face.
8. Here it means "you" and not "son" or "master"
9. A unit containing 25 families. Here it means the three clans that made up the royal house of the State of Chu, the 屈, 景 and 昭
10. Here it means a senior official of feudal China and not a doctor!
11. The fisherman recognized him. The question is rhetorical.
12. Same as 哺, to eat.
13. To sup or to suck as sucking in one's soup. It is considered as a variant of 啜 or 欼.
12. Same as 哺, to eat.
13. To sup or to suck as sucking in one's soup. It is considered as a variant of 啜 or 欼.
14. In other versions, the character given is 醨 a thin or inferior wine.
15. 沐 means to wash the hair. 浴 means to cleanse the body. Thus沐浴更衣 means to wash the hair, clean the body and change into clean clothes. A cleansing ritual for some important ceremony, rituals etc.
16. Literally to mean flick the cap. Scholars or persons of high personage are allowed to wear caps to denote their position. It means to adjust their caps properly so that they can present themselves to their superiors. Wang Yi, the imperial court historian of the Han dynasty, annotated commented that this means to flick off dust from the cap. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Yi_(librarian)
17. There are two ways in which it can be translated, the azure green color of the waves or the waves in the vastness of the body of water. I chose the former interpretation because of the purity of the water.
18. Tufts of hair-like or things that are made of string or rope ornaments. For example, 紅纓槍 is a Chinese spear with red tufts of hair like adornment where the wooden bar meets the metal head. Since it is near the top, I interpret this as the hair tufts surrounding a bald head.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
15. 沐 means to wash the hair. 浴 means to cleanse the body. Thus沐浴更衣 means to wash the hair, clean the body and change into clean clothes. A cleansing ritual for some important ceremony, rituals etc.
16. Literally to mean flick the cap. Scholars or persons of high personage are allowed to wear caps to denote their position. It means to adjust their caps properly so that they can present themselves to their superiors. Wang Yi, the imperial court historian of the Han dynasty, annotated commented that this means to flick off dust from the cap. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Yi_(librarian)
17. There are two ways in which it can be translated, the azure green color of the waves or the waves in the vastness of the body of water. I chose the former interpretation because of the purity of the water.
18. Tufts of hair-like or things that are made of string or rope ornaments. For example, 紅纓槍 is a Chinese spear with red tufts of hair like adornment where the wooden bar meets the metal head. Since it is near the top, I interpret this as the hair tufts surrounding a bald head.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
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