Su Dongpo: Floating To and Around Yingzhou

Floating To and Around Yingzhou

泛 颖 州

我 性 喜 临 水
得 颖 意 甚 奇。
到 官 十 日 来
九 日 河 之 湄。

吏 民 笑 相 语：
“使 君 老 而 痴”.
使 君 实 不 痴
流 水 有 令 姿。

绕 郡 十 余 里
不 驶 亦 不 迟。
上 流 直 而 清
下 流 曲 而 漪。

画 般 府 明 镜
笑 问 “ 汝 为 谁”。
忽 然 生 鳞 甲
乱 我 须 与 眉。

散 为 百 东 城
顷 刻 复 在 兹。
此 岂 水 薄 相
与 我 相 娱 嬉。

声 色 与 臭 味
颠 倒 炫 小 儿。
等 是 儿 戏 物
水 中 少 磷 缁。

赵 陈 两 欧 阳
同 参 天 人 师。
观 妙 名 有 得
共 赋 泛 颖 诗。

Fan Ying Zhou

Wo xing xi lin shui
De ying yi shen qi.
Dao guan shi ri lai
Jiu ri he zhi mei.

Li min xiao xiang yu:
“Shi jun lao er chi.”
Shi jun shi bu chi
Liu shui you ling zi.

Rao jun shi yu li
Bu shi yi bu chi.
Shang liu zhi er qing
Xia liu qu er yi.

Hua ban fu ming jing
Xiao wen “ru wei shei.”
Hu ran sheng lin jia
Luan wo xu yu mei.

San wei bai dong po
Qing ke fu zai zi.
Ci qi shui bao xiang
Yu wo xiang yu xi.

Sheng se yu xiu wei
Dian dao xuan xiao er.
Deng shi er xi wu
Shui zhong shao lin zi.

Zhao chen lian ou yang
Tong can tian ren shi.
Guan miao ming you de
Gong fu fan ying shi.

Floating To and Around Yingzhou

My nature is to be happy near water
So lucky to obtain positions near a river or lake.
Of the ten days here on government business
Nine have been spent along the riverbanks.

Lower ranking workers happily say to each other:
“Our boss is a bit old and crazy about the river water.”
Actually I am not silly, this flowing has special appearances
For three miles it flows around the city.

Not too fast—not to slow
Top of the water flows clear and pure.
At the depths, the ripples spread in zig-zag patterns
Painted boat, look over the edge, the water is like a bright mirror.

I smile and ask, “Who is this?”
All of a sudden a fish emerges.
My reflection scatters into fragments
One hundred faces become one when the water calms.

This water play gives me a lot of entertainment
Chasing money and wealth are games to dazzle children.
These worldly games full of drama
Not like my water entertainments.

Zhao, Chen, brothers Ouyang and I all pay homage to Heaven and human masters
Each one has their own wonderment and conclusions
Yet we wrote the poem together.

Notes:

Yingzhou: An area inside Anhui Province.

Commentary:

Of his three friends mentioned in the last line, I only recognize Ouyang as Ouyang Xiu.  His work and biographical information can also be found on this website.  I love the line, “Chasing money and wealth are games to dazzle children.” Su just kind of slipped that one in.