AT PARTING

送别
王维

下马饮君酒， 问君何所之。
君言不得意， 归卧南山陲。
但去莫复闻， 白云无尽时。
　
AT PARTING
Wang Wei

I dismount from my horse and I offer you wine,
And I ask you where you are going and why.
And you answer: "I am discontent
And would rest at the foot of the southern mountain.
So give me leave and ask me no questions.
White clouds pass there without end."

TO QIWU QIAN BOUND HOME AFTER FAILING IN AN EXAMINATION

送綦毋潜落第还乡
王维

圣代无隐者， 英灵尽来归。
遂令东山客， 不得顾采薇。
既至金门远， 孰云吾道非。
江淮度寒食， 京洛缝春衣。
置酒长安道， 同心与我违。
行当浮桂棹， 未几拂荆扉。
远树带行客， 孤城当落晖。
吾谋适不用， 勿谓知音稀。
　
TO QIWU QIAN BOUND HOME AFTER FAILING IN AN EXAMINATION
Wang Wei

In a happy reign there should be no hermits;
The wise and able should consult together….
So you, a man of the eastern mountains,
Gave up your life of picking herbs
And came all the way to the Gate of Gold --
But you found your devotion unavailing.
…To spend the Day of No Fire on one of the southern rivers,
You have mended your spring clothes here in these northern cities.
I pour you the farewell wine as you set out from the capital --
Soon I shall be left behind here by my bosomfriend.
In your sail-boat of sweet cinnamon-wood
You will float again toward your own thatch door,
Led along by distant trees
To a sunset shining on a far-away town.
…What though your purpose happened to fail,
Doubt not that some of us can hear high music.

SEEING Li Bai IN A DREAM（ II ）

梦李白（之二）
杜甫

浮云终日行， 游子久不至。
三夜频梦君， 情亲见君意。
告归常局促， 苦道来不易。
江湖多风波， 舟楫恐失坠。
出门搔白首， 若负平生志。
冠盖满京华， 斯人独憔悴。
孰云网恢恢， 将老身反累。
千秋万岁名， 寂寞身后事。

SEEING Li Bai IN A DREAM（ II ）
Du Fu

This cloud, that has drifted all day through the sky,
May, like a wanderer, never come back….
Three nights now I have dreamed of you --
As tender, intimate and real as though I were awake.
And then, abruptly rising to go,
You told me the perils of adventure
By river and lake-the storms, the wrecks,
The fears that are borne on a little boat;
And, here in my doorway, you rubbed your white head
As if there were something puzzling you.
…Our capital teems with officious people,
While you are alone and helpless and poor.
Who says that the heavenly net never fails?
It has brought you ill fortune, old as you are.
…A thousand years' fame, ten thousand years' fame-
What good, when you are dead and gone.

SEEING Li Bai IN A DREAM（ I ）

梦李白（之一）
杜甫

死别已吞声， 生别常恻恻。
江南瘴疠地， 逐客无消息。
故人入我梦， 明我长相忆。
君今在罗网， 何以有羽翼。
恐非平生魂， 路远不可测。
魂来枫林青， 魂返关塞黑。
落月满屋梁， 犹疑照颜色。
水深波浪阔， 无使蛟龙得。
　
SEEING Li Bai IN A DREAM（ I ）
Du Fu

There are sobs when death is the cause of parting;
But life has its partings again and again.
From the poisonous damps of the southern river
You had sent me not one sign from your exile --
Till you came to me last night in a dream,
Because I am always thinking of you.
I wondered if it were really you,
Venturing so long a journey.
You came to me through the green of a forest,
You disappeared by a shadowy fortress….
Yet out of the midmost mesh of your snare,
How could you lift your wings and use them?
I woke, and the low moon's glimmer on a rafter
Seemed to be your face, still floating in the air.
There were waters to cross, they were wild and tossing;
If you fell, there were dragons and rivermonsters.

ALONE IN HER BEAUTY

佳人
杜甫

绝代有佳人， 幽居在空谷。
自云良家子， 零落依草木。
关中昔丧乱， 兄弟遭杀戮。
官高何足论， 不得收骨肉。
世情恶衰歇， 万事随转烛。
夫婿轻薄儿， 新人美如玉。
合昏尚知时， 鸳鸯不独宿。
但见新人笑， 那闻旧人哭。
在山泉水清， 出山泉水浊。
侍婢卖珠回， 牵萝补茅屋。
摘花不插发， 采柏动盈掬。
天寒翠袖薄， 日暮倚修竹。
　
ALONE IN HER BEAUTY
Du Fu

Who is lovelier than she?
Yet she lives alone in an empty valley.
She tells me she came from a good family
Which is humbled now into the dust.
When trouble arose in the Kuan district,
Her brothers and close kin were killed.
What use were their high offices,
Not even shielding their own lives? --
The world has but scorn for adversity;
Hope goes out, like the light of a candle.
Her husband, with a vagrant heart,
Seeks a new face like a new piece of jade;
And when morning-glories furl at night
And mandarin-ducks lie side by side,
All he can see is the smile of the new love,
While the old love weeps unheard.
The brook was pure in its mountain source,
But away from the mountain its waters darken.
Waiting for her maid to come from selling pearls

For straw to cover the roof again,
She picks a few flowers, no longer for her hair,
And lets pine-needles fall through her fingers,
And, forgetting her thin silk sleeve and the cold,
She leans in the sunset by a tall bamboo.

TO MY RETIRED FRIEND WEI

赠卫八处士
杜甫

人生不相见， 动如参与商。
今夕复何夕， 共此灯烛光。
少壮能几时， 鬓发各已苍。
访旧半为鬼， 惊呼热中肠。
焉知二十载， 重上君子堂。
昔别君未婚， 儿女忽成行。
怡然敬父执， 问我来何方。
问答乃未已， 驱儿罗酒浆。
夜雨剪春韭， 新炊间黄粱。
主称会面难， 一举累十觞。
十觞亦不醉， 感子故意长。
明日隔山岳， 世事两茫茫。

TO MY RETIRED FRIEND WEI
Du Fu

It is almost as hard for friends to meet
As for the morning and evening stars.
Tonight then is a rare event,
Joining, in the candlelight,
Two men who were young not long ago
But now are turning grey at the temples.
To find that half our friends are dead
Shocks us, burns our hearts with grief.
We little guessed it would be twenty years
Before I could visit you again.
When I went away, you were still unmarried;
But now these boys and girls in a row
Are very kind to their father's old friend.
They ask me where I have been on my journey;
And then, when we have talked awhile,
They bring and show me wines and dishes,
Spring chives cut in the night-rain
And brown rice cooked freshly a special way.
My host proclaims it a festival,
He urges me to drink ten cups --
But what ten cups could make me as drunk
As I always am with your love in my heart?
Tomorrow the mountains will separate us;
After tomorrow-who can say?

A VIEW OF TAISHAN

望岳
杜甫

岱宗夫如何， 齐鲁青未了。
造化钟神秀， 阴阳割昏晓。
荡胸生层云， 决眥入归鸟。
会当凌绝顶， 一览众山小。
　
A VIEW OF TAISHAN
Du Fu

What shall I say of the Great Peak? --
The ancient dukedoms are everywhere green,
Inspired and stirred by the breath of creation,
With the Twin Forces balancing day and night.
I bare my breast toward opening clouds,
I strain my sight after birds flying home.
When shall I reach the top and hold
All mountains in a single glance?
　

IN SPRING

春思
李白

燕草如碧丝， 秦桑低绿枝。
当君怀归日， 是妾断肠时。
春风不相识， 何事入罗帏。

IN SPRING
Li Bai

Your grasses up north are as blue as jade,
Our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches;
And at last you think of returning home,
Now when my heart is almost broken….
O breeze of the spring, since I dare not know you,
Why part the silk curtains by my bed?

DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOON

月下独酌
李白

花间一壶酒， 独酌无相亲。
举杯邀明月， 对影成三人。
月既不解饮， 影徒随我身。
暂伴月将影， 行乐须及春。
我歌月徘徊， 我舞影零乱。
醒时同交欢， 醉后各分散。
永结无情游， 相期邈云汉。

DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOON
Li Bai

From a pot of wine among the flowers
I drank alone. There was no one with me --
Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon
To bring me my shadow and make us three.
Alas, the moon was unable to drink
And my shadow tagged me vacantly;
But still for a while I had these friends
To cheer me through the end of spring….
I sang. The moon encouraged me.
I danced. My shadow tumbled after.
As long as I knew, we were boon companions.
And then I was drunk, and we lost one another.
…Shall goodwill ever be secure?
I watch the long road of the River of Stars.

DOWN ZHONGNAN MOUNTAIN TO THE KIND PILLOW AND BOWL OF HUSI

下终南山过斛斯山人宿置酒
李白

暮从碧山下， 山月随人归。
却顾所来径， 苍苍横翠微。
相携及田家， 童稚开荆扉。
绿竹入幽径， 青萝拂行衣。
欢言得所憩， 美酒聊共挥。
长歌吟松风， 曲尽河星稀。
我醉君复乐， 陶然共忘机。

DOWN ZHONGNAN MOUNTAIN TO THE KIND PILLOW AND BOWL OF HUSI
Li Bai

Down the blue mountain in the evening,
Moonlight was my homeward escort.
Looking back, I saw my path
Lie in levels of deep shadow….
I was passing the farm-house of a friend,
When his children called from a gate of thorn
And led me twining through jade bamboos
Where green vines caught and held my clothes.
And I was glad of a chance to rest
And glad of a chance to drink with my friend….
We sang to the tune of the wind in the pines;
And we finished our songs as the stars went down,
When, I being drunk and my friend more than happy,
Between us we forgot the world.

ORCHID AND ORANGE II

感遇（其二）
张九龄
　
江南有丹橘， 经冬犹绿林。

岂伊地气暖， 自有岁寒心。
可以荐嘉客， 奈何阻重深。
运命惟所遇， 循环不可寻。
徒言树桃李， 此木岂无阴。

ORCHID AND ORANGE II
Zhang Jiuling

Here, south of the Yangzi, grows a red orangetree.

All winter long its leaves are green,
Not because of a warmer soil,
But because its' nature is used to the cold.
Though it might serve your honourable guests,
You leave it here, far below mountain and river.
Circumstance governs destiny.
Cause and effect are an infinite cycle.
You plant your peach-trees and your plums,
You forget the shade from this other tree.

ORCHID AND ORANGE I

感遇（其一）
张九龄

兰叶春葳蕤， 桂华秋皎洁。欣欣此生意， 自尔为佳节。
谁知林栖者， 闻风坐相悦。草木有本心， 何求美人折。

ORCHID AND ORANGE I
Zhang Jiuling

Tender orchid-leaves in spring
And cinnamon- blossoms bright in autumn
Are as self- contained as life is,
Which conforms them to the seasons.
Yet why will you think that a forest-hermit,
Allured by sweet winds and contented with beauty,
Would no more ask to-be transplanted
THan Would any other natural flower?