Midnight Music (Liu Yong)

Contents

Text

English translation

Original Chinese text

English translation

Dark clouds hang over a cold day. A single small boat leaves the riverbank on a whim, threading through ravines and rocky heights into the deep reaches of the stream. The angry waves subside; a favorable breeze rises, and merchants call to one another. The sail lifts, and the painted boat glides past the southern landing. Ahead, tavern flags flicker above a hazy village and rows of frost-touched trees. As the sun sets, fishermen tap their boats and head home.

Original Chinese text

English translation

Fallen lotus leaves lie scattered, and fading willows partly veil the shore. In twos and threes, women come to wash silk; they step aside for the traveler, smiling shyly as they speak. The scene makes me think of the beloved I left in her embroidered chamber, while I drift like duckweed and cannot stay. What ground is there now for the promises we repeated at parting? Grief remains, and the year grows late while my return is delayed. With tears in my eyes I face the distant road to the capital; a lone wild goose calls far away beneath the darkening sky.

词句注释 · Notes

上片 · First stanza

上片以舟行为线索,从风浪未平写到顺风扬帆,再推远到村庄、霜树和归渔。景物层层展开,旅行的兴致中带着秋日将暮的清冷。

The stanza follows the boat from unsettled waves to a favorable wind and raised sail, then widens toward village, frost-touched trees, and fishermen returning home. The journey’s pleasure carries the chill of an autumn evening nearing its end.

下片 · Second stanza

下片先写岸边浣纱女子,触发对远方爱人的回忆;“浪萍”写漂泊无定。后约无凭与归期受阻把离情落到现实,末尾以鸿雁声和暮色延长远行者的孤独。

The sight of women washing silk on shore prompts thoughts of the beloved left behind; duckweed conveys the traveler’s unsettled life. Uncertain promises and a delayed return make the separation concrete. A distant goose and the dusk prolong his loneliness.

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