20. 寻西山隐者不遇（丘为）
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现代汉语译文
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绝顶一茅茨，直上三十里。
现代汉语译文
山顶上有一间茅屋，直往上走三十里才到。
一开头就给距离和高度。「直上」不写路怎么绕，只写方向，三十里全交给一个往上。
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扣关无僮仆，窥室唯案几。
现代汉语译文
敲门没有人应答，往屋里看，只有一张几案。
两个动作一前一后：先敲，后看。没有僮仆是听不见回应，只有案几是看见了空。人不在，靠这两下坐实。
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若非巾柴车，应是钓秋水。
现代汉语译文
不是驾着柴车出门，就是到秋水上钓鱼去了。
「若非」「应是」是猜。诗人不打听，自己给两个去处，语气平常，说明他并不着急。
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差池不相见，黾勉空仰止。
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阴差阳错没能见上，努力赶来却只是空自仰慕。
「差池」是错过，「黾勉」是竭力。上句说结果，下句说白费的力气，两个字都用在人事上。
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草色新雨中，松声晚窗里。
现代汉语译文
新雨过后草色青青，晚风中的松声从窗口传进来。
到这里诗人不再找人了。两个句子都是眼前的东西：一片颜色，一片声音，各占一句。
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及兹契幽绝，自足荡心耳。
现代汉语译文
到了这里正好合上这份幽绝，足以涤荡心胸和耳目。
「契」是相合。幽静本来属于这个地方，他到了正好合上，不是他把心境投射过去。
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虽无宾主意，颇得清净理。
现代汉语译文
虽然没有主客相见的一番情意，倒也悟到几分清净的道理。
「虽无」「颇得」是一退一进。该有的没有，不该求的倒到手了，全诗的转折在这一联。
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兴尽方下山，何必待之子。
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兴致尽了才下山，何必非要等到他呢。
「兴尽」用的是王子猷雪夜访戴的旧事：到了门口不进去，兴尽而返。「何必」把开头三十里的奔波一笔收掉。
赏析 · Commentary
找人这件事是怎么退场的 · How the Search Leaves the Poem
前四联都在找人：敲门、窥室、猜他去了哪、叹白跑一趟。到第五联人不见了，只剩草色和松声。丘为不再交代隐者，也不再交代自己的失望。这个退场不是忽然的，第四联已经把「空」字说出口，第五联只是接着往下写眼前的东西。找的那件事放下了，地方才亮起来。
The first four couplets are all about the search: knocking, peeping, guessing where the man went, regretting the wasted trip. By the fifth couplet the man is gone from the poem, and only grass and pine sound remain. Qiu Wei stops accounting for the hermit and for his own disappointment. The exit is not abrupt: the fourth couplet has already said the effort was in vain, and the fifth simply goes on with what is in front of him. Once the search is put down, the place lights up.
「虽无」和「颇得」 · "Though None" and "Rather Gained"
第七联是全诗真正转弯的地方。上句承认没有宾主相待的那份情意，下句说倒得了清净的道理。两句合用「虽」「颇」，一个让、一个得，让出去的是人事，得回来的是对山水的领会。丘为把这次落空写成一次交换：见不到人，就把这个地方整个收到了。
The seventh couplet is where the poem actually turns. One line admits that none of the host-and-guest courtesy happened; the next says something of the doctrine of purity did come. The two words for "though" and "rather" make a concession and a gain, and what is conceded is human, what is gained is an understanding of the place. Qiu Wei writes the failure as an exchange: no man to meet, so the whole mountain is taken in instead.
用别人的旧事给自己收尾 · Ending on Someone Else's Old Story
末联的「兴尽」不是随口用的词。王子猷雪夜乘船去访戴逵，到门口不进去就回来，人问缘故，答「乘兴而行，兴尽而返」。丘为把这件事挪到自己身上，等于给白跑三十里找了个体面的说法。可他不说破，只接一句「何必待之子」，语气像自言自语。前面八句攒下的辛苦，被这四个字轻轻放下。
The phrase for a spent mood is not casual. Wang Ziyou once sailed through a snowy night to visit Dai Kui, reached the door, and went home without entering; asked why, he said he had gone on impulse and returned when the impulse was spent. Qiu Wei moves the story onto himself, which gives the thirty wasted li of climbing a dignified account. He does not spell that out, only adds "why must he wait for the man", sounding as if he were talking to himself. The labour built up over eight lines is set down lightly by those few characters.