ChineseStudy

37. Song of the Zither | Li Qi

Contents

Text

English translation

The host has wine and means to enjoy the evening; he asks the man from Guangling to play the sounding zither.

The guest from Guangling names where the player comes from and trails the old tale of the Guangling tune, giving the music a pedigree before a note is heard.

The moon lights the city wall and crows fly up in half a flock; frost chills ten thousand trees and wind gets inside the clothes.

Three things, all cold: moon, frost, wind. No music yet — the scene first sets the listener down in the cold.

A bronze censer and figured candles make the lamplight brighter; first the Green Water, then the Lady of Chu.

The tune names are given straight, and indoors is warm, set against the frost and wind outside.

One note sounds, and all things fall still; the whole table is silent, and the stars are thinning.

All things fall still is the effect, the silent table is the men. By the thinning stars a long time has passed and nobody noticed.

Sent on a mission to the clear Huai, a thousand li and more; let me say it plainly — from here the clouds and hills begin.

A person appears at the end. Everything before was listening; this line says he leaves tomorrow, and the music has given the journey its opening.

赏析 · Commentary

冷和暖分成两半 · Cold Outside, Warm Inside

第二句写门外：月、乌、霜、风，全是冷的，风钻进衣服。第三句一转身写屋内：铜炉、华烛，全是暖的。李颀不解释这种对比，只把两半并排放着。琴声从暖的这一半发出来，听的人却刚从冷的那一半进来，屋子里的暖因此显得更明显。

The second line is outdoors: moon, crows, frost, wind, all cold, wind getting inside the clothes. The third line turns to the room: bronze censer, figured candles, all warm. Li Qi does not explain the contrast, only sets the two halves side by side. The music comes from the warm half while the listeners have just walked in from the cold one, and the room's warmth stands out all the more for it.

一个音就让万物停下 · One Note Stops Everything

写音乐最难，李颀不形容音色，只写反应：物静、座默、星稀。三样都不在琴上，全在琴的外面。四座无言是人的反应，星欲稀是时间的反应。等读者意识到夜已经这么深，前面听琴的那段时间已经被悄悄量了出来。

Music is the hardest thing to write, and Li Qi does not describe the tone; he describes reactions. Things go still, the table goes silent, the stars thin out. None of the three is on the zither; all three are outside it. The silent table is the human response, the thinning stars are time's. By the moment the reader notices how late it is, the stretch of listening has already been quietly measured out.

听琴之后要走的路 · The Road After the Music

末句忽然回到自己身上：一千多里外的清淮等着他。前面写的是屋子里的暖，这一句写的是明天早晨。云山从此始，等于把琴声当成一段路的起点。听的人没评价音乐，只说听完之后要去哪儿，评价反而更清楚。

The last line comes back to the poet himself: a mission to the clear Huai, a thousand li off, is waiting. All before was the warmth of the room; this line is tomorrow morning. That the clouds and hills begin here makes the music the starting point of a stretch of road. The listener never judges the playing, only says where he goes after hearing it, and the judgment comes through clearer for that.

Feedback