4. 月下独酌（李白）
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现代汉语译文
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花间一壶酒，独酌无相亲。
现代汉语译文
花丛中摆着一壶酒，独自饮酌，身边没有一个亲近的人。
开场全是减法：有花，有酒，别的都没有。「一壶」「独」「无」接连压下来，先把冷清摆足，后面的奇想才有起跳的余地。
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举杯邀明月，对影成三人。
现代汉语译文
举起酒杯邀请明月，加上自己的影子，就成了三个人。
把月亮和影子算作同伴。但三人之中两个不会说话，热闹是他自己凑出来的，孤独一分没少。
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月既不解饮，影徒随我身。
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月亮本来不懂饮酒，影子也只是白白跟着我的身子。
「既」和「徒」是两个泄气的字，上一句的三个人立刻退回一个。李白不掩饰这一点，他先自己把幻觉戳破。
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暂伴月将影，行乐须及春。
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暂且伴着月亮和影子，行乐就要趁这春夜。
「将」是与、和的意思。戳破之后他并没有散场，反而把这场约定降级为「暂」——明知不长久，仍旧要凑一场。全诗在这里转向。
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我歌月徘徊，我舞影零乱。
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我唱歌，月亮来回移动；我起舞，影子也跟着纷乱。
两句都以「我」开头，节奏快了起来。月亮和影子这时确实动了，但动是因为他在动。热闹与孤独在这里是同一件事的两面。
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醒时同交欢，醉后各分散。
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清醒时一起欢乐，醉倒以后就各自散开。
一句写合，一句写散，两句之间就是这一夜的边界。诗人很清楚这笔约定的条件：所谓陪伴，只在清醒的这段时间里成立。
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永结无情游，相期邈云汉。
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愿与它们永远结下这没有情意的交游，相约在遥远的银河相见。
「无情」不是绝情，是说月与影本无感情，正因如此才不会变心。人间的交往会散，这个约定不会。诗从一个「无」字开场，到另一个「无」字收尾。
赏析 · Commentary
三人 · Three
「举杯邀明月，对影成三人」：一个人喝酒，把月亮邀下来，加上自己的影子，凑成三个。热闹是凭空造出来的，而且造得快——上句还在「独酌无相亲」，下句就已是三人。李白不掩饰这个热闹是假的，后面几节他一层层把它说出来。
"I raise the cup and invite the bright moon; facing my shadow, we become three." One man drinking, the moon invited down, his own shadow added in, three in total. The liveliness is manufactured out of nothing, and manufactured fast — the previous line still said he was drinking alone with no one close, and by the next line there are three of them. Li Bai makes no attempt to hide that the company is invented. The sections that follow are him saying so, layer by layer.
不解饮与徒随身 · The Moon Cannot Drink
「月既不解饮，影徒随我身」把破绽自己说了出来：月亮根本不会喝，影子只是跟着我动。接下来是「暂伴月将影，行乐须及春」——既然如此，就暂且凑合着，趁春天还在。从造出三人，到承认三人之中有两个不作数，再到「且将就」，四句里转了三道。李白一边把热闹造起来，一边自己往下拆。
"The moon, of course, does not know how to drink; my shadow only follows my body." He names the flaw himself. The moon cannot drink, and the shadow does nothing but trail along. The answer comes in the next two lines: then let it be for now, let's enjoy ourselves while spring lasts. From inventing three companions, to admitting that two of the three do not count, to settling for that — four lines, three turns. Li Bai keeps the liveliness going and takes it apart underneath at the same time.
醉醒之间 · Sober and Drunk
「我歌月徘徊，我舞影零乱」写的是动起来的样子：唱歌时月亮好像在徘徊，起舞时影子跟着散乱。紧接着「醒时同交欢，醉后各分散」——清醒时还能一起欢聚，醉了以后各散各的。前面邀来的伴，到醉时连形式都没有了。独酌这件事绕了一圈，还是独酌。
"I sing, and the moon lingers; I dance, and my shadow scatters." These lines show things in motion. Then comes: "sober, we share our pleasure; drunk, each of us goes his own way." While he is still sober the company holds; once drunk, even the form of it falls apart. The companions he invited are gone by the time the drinking has done its work. The poem has circled all the way around and arrived back where it started: a man drinking alone.
无情游 · A Meeting Without Feeling
「永结无情游，相期邈云汉」把约会定在银河之外。「无情」不是没有感情，是脱开了世俗往来里带着目的的那一种——月与影不会负心，也不会应酬，所以这场游可以一直结下去。全诗从「独酌无相亲」起，到这里给出另一种解法：不必去找人，把约期开给不会赴约的对象，等于把约期开在时间之外。
"Let us bind a lasting meeting without feeling, and appoint our tryst far off, beyond the Milky Way." "Without feeling" does not mean without affection. It means without the kind of involvement that carries an aim — the moon and the shadow will not betray him, and they will not make small talk, so the meeting can be bound indefinitely. The poem opened with a man drinking alone; here it offers a different way out. There is no need to find a person. You can set the appointment with something that will never keep it, which is to say, outside any time in which it could be kept.