227. Listening to the Zheng | Li Duan
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
鸣筝金粟柱，素手玉房前。
English translation
The zheng rings from its gilded string bridges; pale hands play before an elegant chamber.
The bridges support and tune the strings. Gilded bridges, fine chamber, and pale hands establish a carefully adorned indoor performance.
Original Chinese text
欲得周郎顾，时时误拂弦。
English translation
Hoping to make a connoisseur like young Zhou turn and look, she now and then deliberately brushes a wrong string.
The allusion says that Zhou Yu knew music so well that he looked back whenever a tune went wrong. Here the mistake is intentional, using music to attract his notice.
赏析 · Commentary
真正写的是一次试探 · A Small Test Disguised as a Mistake
前两句像一幅工整的演奏图：筝、弦柱、手、房间，各在其位。后两句才让场面动起来。演奏者不是技术不足，而是故意留下一个错误，试探对方是否在听、是否会回头。诗的趣味不在音乐多高明，而在一次没有说出口的交流。
The first couplet resembles a composed performance scene: instrument, bridges, hands, and chamber all in place. The second makes it move. The player does not lack skill; she leaves a deliberate error to test whether the listener is attentive and whether he will turn. The poem's interest lies less in virtuosity than in communication that never becomes speech.
“曲有误，周郎顾”的用法 · How the Zhou Yu Allusion Works
周郎指三国时的周瑜，传说他年轻而精通音律，即使饮酒后也能听出曲误。李端不重讲故事，只取“听见错误便回头”这一点。典故给人物安排了一种含蓄办法：她不直接招呼，只让一根弦暂时偏离曲调。
Young Zhou is Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms, traditionally celebrated for recognizing musical errors even after drinking. Li Duan does not retell the story; he keeps only the detail that a mistake makes Zhou turn. The allusion gives the player an indirect method: she does not call out, but lets one string briefly leave the tune.