瑤池仙客 - Jasper Pool Fairy

This poem was inspired by a photo posted on Facebook by a friend.  For this, I have to thank him wholeheartedly. 

I first saw it on the small screen of my phone.  Lines describing the scenery were starting to form but unable to establish a theme.

Finally on the computer's large screen, I noticed a black dot in the sky and that the lake waters were not that mirror smooth.  With a sudden insight as I expressed my thoughts out on paper, that within fifteen minutes a theme was established and by the end of the hour, the language was polished. I was delighted.

此詩靈感來自臉書朋友發布的照片。為此要向他感謝萬分。

首次之見於手机小屏幕上。景句開始形成但主題難現。

終於在電腦大屏幕上, 注意到天空中一點烏斑而且湖水并非滑如鏡。紙上思維洞見一閃突發, 十五分鐘之內主題已立, 而一鐘頭後, 言語花開。愉悅交加。
...

波微湖靜烟鎖白 Shrouded in misty white are gentle ripples on a quiet lake,
獨飛孤雁墨點黑 And a lonely swan flying in dotted black.
音盡丹青紅塵別 All sounds had ceased and colors to this place of red dust adieu bade,
九霄仙子人間客 Ninth Heaven Fairy, but a guest in this world of mortals.

Note: "red dust" means "the mundane world".

19 March 2019

19 Jun 2020 - Update

瑤池仙客 Jasper Pool Fairy

烟鎖湖靜濛瀧白 Engulfed in mistiness, quiet is the lake in white,
獨雁高飛點蒼黑 A soaring goose in loneliness, freckling the greyish sky black,
丹青紅塵景色去 The colors of the painted world are vanishing,
瑤池仙子音盡客 And when the sounds are gone, Jasper Pool Fairy is but a guest.

銀河流星莫久永 Shooting Stars in the Milky Way are never lasting,
金風玉露無幾刻 Not many moments are left for the Jade Dew of the Golden Winds.
醉夢不緣作醒人 Why would inebriated dreams a sober man be?
曉覺只恐春光隔 For in conscious trepidation that springtime had long said goodbye.

越女怨 - Woes of a Yueh Maiden

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.

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

So Many Untitled

This untitled poem came from the inspiration of this line, 窗外遠傳雷一聲. The fourth line was most problematic as I could not find the appropriate words until a few days later.  At least for now, it is up to the reader to decide which journey is referred; the earthly one or the one in Hades.

窗外傳來雷一聲 Outside the window, came a thunder clap,
屋簷隨嚮後庭應 Then the eaves rumbled and the backyard replied.
又忘三秋陰陽隔 Forgetting three autumns ago had Death parted us,
衣衫猶疑足遠程 Wondering still, there be enough clothing for your long journey.

雲開冷月寂寞露 Clouds dispersing and the cold moon showed its loneliness,
燭淚已盡針綫停 The needlework had ceased as the candle wept its last,
枝葉微閃珠光滴 Boughs and leaves shimmered dimly as falling droplets gleamed.
夢中又恐五更鳴 And in my dreams, I feared the crowing of the morn.

Friday, March 08, 2019

Three Versions

These three versions stem from these two inspired lines, 秋詐東風和. 一吹自然冷. I was looking at an old photo...

雨弄西厢看 I look at the rain toying with the Western Chamber,

夢充枕繡安 And dreams filled my pillows with relief.

秋詐東風和 Autumn masquerading as the warm East Wind,
一吹醒覺寒 One blow, awakened in cold.

往日路遥閑 In the old days, the road is long and I am in no hurry,
舊時壯氣橫 Of yore when my vitality knows no bound.
秋詐東風和 Autumn masquerading as the warm East Wind, 

一吹自覺冷 One blow and cold it felt.

 舊日路遥看 I look back at the long road of my past,
而今却難安 And nowadays, I don't feel at ease.
秋詐東風暖 Autumn masquerading as the warm East Wind,
一吹自然寒 One blow and naturally it is cold.

07 March 2019

08 March 2021

Untitled Once More...

The first part was composed a day before. As I felt it was hanging in the air without closure and hence the second part. As usual, the first line was the inspiration.

烟鎖池塘心鎖魂 The mists enshroud the pond and the heart locks the soul,
只見霧散不見人 I see only the fog lifting but no one seen.
日升高竿時已盡 The sun is overhead and time has ended,
露滴去何誰得問 To whom can I ask where the dewy droplets went?

鴛鴦并遊溪邊樂 The joy of a pair of Mandarin ducks roaming by the brook,
綠柳垂搖逐風韻 And green willows swaying to the rhythm of the winds.
好景不過青山遠 A good scenery is just but green mountains far away,
知音未來白雲近 Your soul mate has yet to meet and white clouds neared.

Landmines in Translating Chinese Poetry

如夢令 - 李清照

1. 常記溪亭日暮

2. 沉醉不知歸路

3. 興盡晚回舟

4. 誤入藕花深處

5. 爭渡

6. 爭渡

7. 驚起一灘鷗鷺

1.  I still recall that sunset gath'ring at Brookside Pavilion;

2.   We got so drunk, too drunk to tell our bearings home.

3.   By dusk, our gay mood spent, our boats we turned

4.   Only to stray straight in to the depths of the lotus groves.

5.   Oh, on, we rowed!

6.   And on, we rowed!

7.   Startling to flight, herons and gulls of the sandy shallows.

This is a translation by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa) 黃宏發

https://chinesepoemsinenglish.blogspot.com/2019/03/li-qingzhao-as-if-dreaming-song-i-still.html?fbclid=IwAR1DqdefKiFEmJR_vN8fxtWgeoJD9dLCQ9_hUecgAhGcW1A6h75y86nJn7I

His lines 5 and 6 colored my interpretation and without further research, my error in interpretation was compounded into modern day outrageousness -- the person was so drunk and lost his way back to his boat;  waded into the waters; thinking that he was still on it and in shouts, urging the boat forward; naturally frightening the birds on the bank.  The main reason this hilarity is often remembered as stated in the first line. Since the time frame had been established in the first line, it would be redundant to translate 晚 as night.  "late" is more appropriate but  was left out in the translation. Line 3 is ambiguous due to the conciseness of the language. This depends on whether 晚 is parsed as a verb or as an adjective.  When parsed as a verb, the line is translated as "... late I was in returning to my boat", implying he was returning from the pavilion.  As an adjective, "... my boat in late return", implying the author was already in the boat and was lost rowing his boat... Both scenarios made sense.  The author, Li Ch'ing-chao is a woman and not to be expected to behave out of her status.  However, she was not a typical woman; after all no self-respecting woman should be drinking with a group of men at parties unless she was a courtesan.  She was no typical woman of her times.

Whether the wading or shouting that the birds were startled, we do not know.  My version  is now:

1. Often I think of the nightfall in the pavilion by the brook.
2. Too drunk were we to know our back home.
3. When the gaiety has ended, late I was in returning to my boat,
4. Mistakenly, I waded into the deep end where the lotuses are,
5. "Onward row!" [I shouted,]
6. "Go, go! Go!"
7. Startling the flock of herons and gulls on the shallows.

However, without further research into the details, my interpretation is also wrong.  This is because the usual meaning of 爭 ("to compete", "to vie") was used. It made sense.  This is the sort of landmines we modern translators often stepped on and got blown up without realizing what had hit us. Another example is 坐 in 杜牧's line, 停車愛錯楓林晚!  It does not mean "to sit" but "The reason is".  So lines 3, 4, 5 & 6 are now corrected to be:

3. When the gaiety has ended, late I was in returning to my boat/

    ... my late boat late in return,

4.  Mistakenly, into where lotus blooms run deep,

5.  How to cross?

6.  How to cross?