281. 赠别（二首之一）（杜牧）
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现代汉语译文
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娉娉袅袅十三余，豆蔻梢头二月初。
现代汉语译文
她体态轻盈柔美，年纪刚过十三岁；就像二月初枝头的豆蔻花，含苞初放。
“娉娉袅袅”形容女子体态轻盈美好。“十三余”指刚过十三岁。“豆蔻”是南方花木，二月初正含苞欲放，后世遂以“豆蔻年华”称年少女子。这里以花比人，写她的青春初绽。
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春风十里扬州路，卷上珠帘总不如。
现代汉语译文
扬州路上，春风十里，处处繁华；可她们卷起珠帘露出容颜，也总比不上她。
“春风十里”写扬州长街的繁盛，也暗指其间的众多美人。“卷上珠帘”是让帘中人露面。“总不如”三字一收，说遍扬州佳丽无一人比得上眼前这位。诗人不具体描摹，只用一个比较来推高她的位置。
赏析 · Commentary
以花写人，以城衬人 · A Flower for the Girl, a City to Set Her Off
前两句用豆蔻花比喻十三岁的少女，取其初绽未盛之态；后两句把整个扬州城搬出来做陪衬。诗人不细写眉眼，只说满城珠帘卷起都不如她，用人数和繁华来突出她的独一份。
The opening pair likens the thirteen-year-old to a cardamom bud, catching the moment before full bloom; the closing pair brings in the whole city of Yangzhou as a foil. The poet describes no eyes or brows; he says only that all the raised blinds of the city cannot compare, using the crowd and the splendor to set her apart.
为什么这个比喻能流传 · Why the Image Endured
“豆蔻梢头二月初”之所以成为名句，是因为它既准确又不直白：花在梢头、时在初春，正好对上一个刚刚长成的少女；花还没有全开，比盛放的花更贴切。后来“豆蔻年华”成了成语，可见这个比喻击中了许多人的共同感受。
The line about cardamom buds in early spring became famous because it is exact without being explicit: a bud at the tip of a branch in the first warmth of spring matches a girl just coming into her own. The flower has not yet fully opened, which fits better than one in full bloom. It later became the idiom cardamom years, proof that the image struck a feeling many share.