12. Seeing Someone Off | Wang Wei

这首诗只有六句，结构是问、答、回应。第一联问，第二联答，第三联不再问也不再答。王维没有写送别的地点、时间、天气，也没有写两个人的交情。所有信息都从那两句问答里出来：要走的人不得意，去处是南山。剩下的篇幅全留给最后一句。

The poem is six lines, and its structure is question, answer, reply. The first couplet asks, the second answers, the third neither asks nor answers. Wang Wei gives no place, no time, no weather, nothing about how well the two men know each other. Everything comes out of the exchange: the man leaving has not had his way, and where he is going is South Mountain. All the remaining space goes to the last line.

答句里的「归卧」把这次回乡的性质说清楚了。回去是「归」，但归了之后是「卧」——躺着，不做事，也不准备再出来。如果只是不得意而暂时回乡，用「归」就够了。王维加了一个「卧」字，等于替对方把话说明：这一走不是等下一次机会。所以第三联才用「莫复问」收住，因为问下去也没有别的结果。

The word pair in the answer settles what kind of return this is. Going back is one thing; the character that follows means lying down — not acting, not preparing to come out again. If this were a temporary retreat until luck turned, 'go back' would be enough. Wang Wei adds the second word and, in effect, says it for him: this departure is not a wait for the next chance. That is why the third couplet can close with 'ask no more' — there is no other answer to give.

「白云无尽时」落在答句已经给出的南山上。白云是那座山里现成的东西，不是王维另外找来的意象。它的作用是断话：对方说了不得意，王维本来还可以问为什么、问以后怎么办，他在这一句上把这些全停掉。白云没有穷尽，等于说这件事说不完，也说不清，不如不问。整首诗到这里结束，没有安慰，也没有约期。

The white cloud of the last line belongs to the South Mountain already named in the answer; it is not an image brought in from elsewhere. What it does is cut the exchange short. Having been told that things went badly, Wang Wei could go on asking why, or what happens next, and on this line he stops all of it. Endless cloud amounts to saying the matter cannot be finished or made clear, so better not to ask. The poem ends there, with no consolation offered and no date set.