279. Giving Vent to My Feelings | Du Mu
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
落魄江湖载酒行，楚腰纤细掌中轻。
English translation
Down and out on the rivers and lakes, I roamed with wine aboard; the slender dancers of Chu seemed light enough to dance on a palm.
Down and out means thwarted in career and drifting; roving with wine conveys a life given to drink. The waist of Chu alludes to the King of Chu's fondness for slender waists, and light on a palm to Zhao Feiyan, who was said to dance on a palm—both figure the dancers' grace. The couplet recalls his years of drinking and pleasure in Yangzhou.
Original Chinese text
十年一觉扬州梦，赢得青楼薄幸名。
English translation
Ten years in Yangzhou pass like a single dream; all I have won is a name for fickleness in the pleasure quarters.
Ten years is a round number for the time he spent around Yangzhou. The pleasure quarters are the singing houses and brothels; a name for fickleness means a reputation for heartlessness. The couplet turns from recollection to awakening: the pleasures of old dissolve on waking, leaving behind nothing but an unflattering reputation.
赏析 · Commentary
用两个典故写一段荒唐 · A Wild Stretch Told Through Two Allusions
前两句不直说美人如何，而用“楚腰”“掌中”两个旧典来形容，把扬州的歌舞写得轻艳。后两句却从声色里抽身，说这一切不过一场梦。前面的热闹与后面的空，落差很大，自嘲的意味也正在这个落差里。
The opening couplet does not describe the women directly; it borrows two old allusions—the waist of Chu and the palm—to make Yangzhou's song and dance shimmer. The closing couplet pulls away from the revelry and calls it all a dream. The gap between the brilliance and the emptiness is wide, and the self-mockery lies precisely in that gap.
“赢得”两个字的分量 · The Weight of 'All I Have Won'
末句的“赢得”表面是“获得”，其实带着反讽：十年纵情，换来的不是功名，而是一个薄情的名声。杜牧不替自己辩解，也不刻意悔恨，只把结果平实地摆出来，让读者自己去衡量这十年的代价。
The words all I have won look like something gained, but they are ironic: ten years of indulgence brought not honor but a reputation for fickleness. Du Mu neither excuses himself nor performs repentance; he simply sets the outcome before the reader and lets it weigh the cost of those ten years.