STUDY IN CHINA GLOBAL (SCG)永遇乐. 落日熔金
原作：李清照 （宋）
英译：戈登.奥赛茵，闵晓红
落日熔金，
暮云合璧，
人在何处。
染柳烟浓，
吹梅笛怨，
春意知几许。
元宵佳节，
融和天气，
次第岂无风雨。
来相召、香车宝马，
谢他酒朋诗侣。
中州盛日，
闺门多暇，
记得偏重三五。
铺翠冠儿，
捻金雪柳，
簇带争济楚。
如今憔悴，
风鬟霜鬓，
怕见夜间出去。
不如向、帘儿底下，
听人笑语。
Again, the sun melted gold in a jade ring
– to the Tune of Yongyuyue
written by Li Qingzhao （ 1084-1155？）
translated by Gordon Osing & Julia Min
Again, the sun melted gold in a jade ring
of clouds, but where is my life all gone?
Mists envelope willows and bittersweet’s the tune
“The Falling of Plum Blooms”, hardly our Spring!
The last day on Lantern Festival and already warm,
why does one dread at every hour a storm?
Friends came for me, in carriages and horses
bedecked with ornaments. Of course I ignored.
Remembering other days, and better, in Zhongzhou,
a lady at home in her boudoir, toasting this festival
wearing a cap of inlaid jade, and twisting rolled gold
to snow willows for children, a vision of elegance,…
But now! Pallid and thin, hair frosted, dishevelled,
how ought she dare to appear for their merriment?
She’s best seen not at all, curtained and listening
to their laughter, loud and empty as their talk.
For appreciation:
This ci could be composed in 1150 when our poet was in her late sixties. Feeling like a traveller in a strange place Lin’an, she also had to give up her hope of returning to her homeland in this life time. The barbarian tribes from the Jin and the Mongols are simply too violent and strong in battlefields for the Song to reclaim her land. It is the Lantern Festival day and friends want her to celebrate with them, but she can’t; All she can do is to recall the grand festivals in Zhongzhou (Kaifeng, Henan Province now), the old capital, and to listen bittersweetly to the laughter and talk of the celebrants.
—-
Notes:
1. ‘jade ring’: evening clouds circling jade, meaning clouds around the sun;
2. “The Falling of Plum Blooms” the old bittersweet tune played with flute was and is frequently heard at this time of the year when plum trees are in full bloom, and with the weather warmer in this southern town, will fall earlier.
3. ‘hardly our Spring’: ironic remark on her status like an emigrant in a strange land, a strong melancholy over the hopeless return to her invaded homeland for such a reunion festival. The so-called ‘temporary Court’in Lin’an seems now like permanent, so again she’s criticising the weakness of the Royal against the invaders.
4. ‘The Lantern Festival’: the night on the 15th of the first lunar month, 15 days after the Chinese New Year, the last day of the longest festive season;
5. ‘Zhongzhou’: the old name for Kaifeng, the Song capital ( in Henan province today); Chinese describe China as Jiuzhou (nine states), Zhongzhou is the middle state.
6. ‘papers of gold’: ornaments made for children’s hairdo at festival times, paper of rolled gold folded and braided like the leaves of willow strands.
Pinyin and Word -For-Word Translation:
yǒng yù lè . luò rì róng jīn
luò rì róng jīn ，
mù yún hé bì ，
rén zài hé chù 。
rǎn liǔ yān nóng ，
chuī méi dí yuàn ，
chūn yì zhī jǐ xǔ 。
yuán xiāo jiā jiē ，
róng hé tiān qì ，
cì dì qǐ wú fēng yǔ 。
lái xiàng zhào 、xiāng chē bǎo mǎ ，
xiè tā jiǔ péng shī lǚ 。
zhōng zhōu shèng rì ，
guī mén duō xiá ，
jì dé piān zhòng sān wǔ 。
pù cuì guàn ér ，
niǎn jīn xuě liǔ ，
cù dài zhēng jì chǔ 。
rú jīn qiáo cuì ，
fēng huán shuāng bìn ，
pà jiàn yè jiān chū qù 。
bú rú xiàng 、lián ér dǐ xià ，
tīng rén xiào yǔ
