A Traveller's Woes

 
Today, the weather had changed, unlike yesterday's sunny day, it was dark, dank and cloudy. Still the wind added another layer of iciness...

1 東紅汗滴見無雲 Already drenched in sweat - nary a cloud seen in the glowing east,
2 夜臨密佈雨路人 But thick as pea soup as night approaches – only to be rained upon.
3 萬重山嶽千里河 A long and arduous journey through mountains and rivers,
4 蟾宮若憐借光問 If the moon had any sympathy, its guiding brilliance be lent.

5 起坐無安半曲彈 Up and down in restlessness, a half tune played,
6 徘徊夢景碎花魂 Pacing back and forth dreamscape, shattering away the souls of flowers.
7 野外風寒刺骨深 Frigid wind of the wild, pierces bones through and through,
8 家中燭影繞心神 And in the home, candlelight shadows mangling emotions into knots.

1 東紅 – The redness of the eastern sky. I didn’t want to use “The east is red” for unwanted inference. 空 can also mean “empty or vacuous”

2 密佈 – thickly spread. 雨 is used as a verb.

3 Literally, ten-thousand mountain peaks and thousand-mile rivers

4 蟾宮 – the moon, where the magical three-legged toad lives.

5 Standing and sitting

6 花 here is being personified.

Thursday, March 25, 2021