261. A Moonlit Night | Liu Fangping
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
更深月色半人家，北斗阑干南斗斜。
English translation
Deep in the night, moonlight fills half the houses; the Dipper lies aslant and the Southern Dipper slants low.
The hour is late. Half the houses means the moonlight falls on part of the courtyard, leaving the rest in shadow. Both star groups have shifted from their earlier positions, so most of the night has passed.
Original Chinese text
今夜偏知春气暖，虫声新透绿窗纱。
English translation
Tonight, as never before, I feel that the spring air has turned warm; for the first time, insect song comes through the green window gauze.
As never before renders a sudden awareness after long hours indoors. For the first time marks the year's first insect sound; letting an insect announce spring is more concrete than stating that the weather has warmed.
赏析 · Commentary
从星月的位置读出时辰 · Reading the Hour from the Stars
前两句没有写更鼓，只写月照半院、北斗和南斗都已倾斜。星月的位置代替了钟漏，夜到了什么时候，读者自己就能算出来。人始终在屋里，却先看见天空的变化，静夜因此显得格外漫长。
The opening lines mention no watch drum. They show moonlight on half the courtyard and two star groups already aslant. The positions of moon and stars take the place of the water clock, and the reader can reckon how late it is. The speaker stays indoors yet notices the sky first, and the quiet night feels all the longer for it.
由虫声报出的春天 · Spring Announced by an Insect
全诗写的是“忽然知道春天来了”，而消息不是从花木，是从虫声里得来的。屋里的人先感到暖，再听见声音，顺序很自然。春天被压缩成一小段穿过窗纱的虫鸣，细小，却比任何繁盛景象都更贴近一个夜里醒着的人。
The poem records the moment one suddenly knows spring has come, and the news arrives not through flowers or trees but through insect song. The person indoors feels the warmth first, then hears the sound—a natural order. Spring is reduced to a little thread of chirring through the window gauze: slight, yet nearer to a wakeful person than any grand display.