Author: Thomas

中文原文﹕

國初以來畫鞍馬，
神妙獨數江都王。
將軍得名三十載，
人間又見真乘黃。
曾貌先帝照夜白，
龍池十日飛霹靂，
內府殷紅瑪瑙盤，
婕妤傳詔才人索。
盤賜將軍拜舞歸，
輕紈細綺相追飛；
貴戚權門得筆跡，
始覺屏障生光輝。

昔日太宗拳毛騧，
近時郭家獅子花，
今之新圖有二馬，
復令識者久歎嗟。
此皆騎戰一敵萬，
縞素漠漠開風沙。
其餘七匹亦殊絕，
迥若寒空動煙雪；
霜蹄蹴踏長楸間，
馬官廝養森成列。
可憐九馬爭神駿，
顧視清高氣深穩。
借問苦心愛者誰？
後有韋諷前支遁。

憶昔巡幸新豐宮，
翠花拂天來向東；
騰驤磊落三萬匹，
皆与此圖筋骨同。
自從獻寶朝河宗，
無復射蛟江水中。
君不見
金粟堆前松柏裏，
龍媒去盡鳥呼風。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

Ever since our empire's establishment, of artists who paint horses,
The late Duke of River City would irrefutably be the most ingenious.
Over the past thirty years, General Cao holds similar fame,
Enabling us mortals to again admire the verve of great steeds.
He once painted Night Lightning, Xuanzong's courser,
So realistic was his painting that for ten days lightning struck over the Dragon Pond,
A plate made of crimson agate from the treasure vault was bestowed upon him,
Retrieved by a bedchamber maid on the imperial concubine's order.
General Cao acknowledged the award with a dance before returning with it,
From there on many visited him for a painting and came prepared with scrolls of silk;
Royal relatives and the influential have been keen to his works obtain,
Thinking his works could decorative screens become at home and brilliance bring.

There is a drawing bearing resemblance to Taizong's steed with mane of ochre,
And to contemporary General Guo's lion-head courser,
In this new painting he showcases these two horses,
Inspiring awe in those who have come to them adore.
Both are coursers that could fend off ten thousand opponents,
Though captured on fabric, unrestrained is their vigour that could ride out a storm.
The other seven steeds on the painting are also extraordinary,
Galloping in the freezing air smoky with snow with a remarkable flair;
Leaving a series of hoof marks in snow along the catalpa-lined path,
Where stable officers and boys are on standby at their service.
Adorable are these nine steeds, each eager to show their animated vitality,
Looking after one another with steady and noble integrity.
I wonder who really loves them with painstaking zeal?
Nowadays there is Wei Feng where once there was Zhi Dun the zealot.

I recall when the former emperor toured towards the Summer Palace of the New Great,
As the parade progressed towards the east, in the sky banners undulated;
About thirty thousand horses trotted and galloped elegantly,
All as spirited as the ones depicted in this painting.
Ever since the passing away of Xuanzong,
There hasn't been any more gallantry like river dragon slaying.
Do you not see
In the cypress and pine woods of the Mount of Golden Grains,
Never seen again are coursers except for birds crying in the wind in vain.

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中文原文﹕

北風捲地白草折，
胡天八月即飛雪；
忽如一夜春風來，
千樹萬樹梨花開。
散入珠簾濕羅幕，
狐裘不暖錦衾薄。
將軍角弓不得控，
都護鐵衣冷猶著。

瀚海闌干百丈冰，
愁雲黲淡萬里凝。
中軍置酒飲歸客，
胡琴琵琶與羌笛。
紛紛暮雪下轅門，
風掣紅旗凍不翻。

輪臺東門送君去，
去時雪滿天山路；
山迴路轉不見君，
雪上空留馬行處。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

The northerlies storm through snapping straw-like grass,
Snow begins to drift in the Hun skies in August;
It is all as sudden as the arrival of spring breezes overnight,
At once snow falls like when thousands and thousands of pear trees blossom and thrive.
Through the beaded screen snowflakes flit moistening curtains of silk,
This weather makes fox coats lacking in warmth and brocade robes light for chills.
The general's bow freezes and stiffens making it difficult to draw,
His protective armour gets cold yet he wears it still.

The boundless desert has frozen over deeply, far and wide,
Under a sky of low-hanging gloomy clouds, overcast is the plight for thousands of leagues.
The marshal has put out wine to bid you goodbye,
With Hun lute, pipa and Jiang flute performances to entertain.
Outside the tent snow continues to fall into the evening,
The wind seems to be holding the red banners still from fluttering among snowflakes

I bid you farewell at the east gate of the Town of Wheelbase,
The Sky Mountain pass comes under heavy snow as you take your leave;
Soon I lose sight of you as you follow the turns into the mountains,
All there is on the snow are hoof marks where the horses have been.

.

中文原文﹕

輪臺城頭夜吹角，
輪臺城北旄頭落。
羽書昨夜過渠黎，
單于已在金山西。
戍樓西望煙塵黑，
漢兵屯在輪臺北。
上將擁旄西出征，
平明吹笛大軍行。

四邊伐鼓雪海湧，
三軍大呼陰山動。
虜塞兵氣連雲屯，
戰場白骨纏草根。
劍河風急雪片闊，
沙口石凍馬蹄脫。

亞相勤王甘苦辛，
誓將報主靜邊塵。
古來青史誰不見？
今見功名勝古人。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

Bugles blare in the evening from the tower of the Town of Wheelbase,
Down come the flags and their tassels north of Wheelbase.
A summons to arms was received last night from Quli,
The Hun chieftain has amassed troops on the Golden Mountains' west.
Looking to the west from the watch tower, there is only smoke and dust in the dark,
Yet our Han corps are stationed at Wheelbase's north.
The general intends to fly the flag and banners and westwards charge,
At daybreak the sound of whistles shall begin the great march.

From all sides war drums bellow billowing a sea of cloud,
All corps sing military songs to even the Yin Mountains shake.
Over the Hun territory where their soldiers gather, clouds seem to accumulate,
Entangled in grass roots are white bones suggesting where battles once took place.
Near the Sword River blow gusty winds and drifts snow far and wide,
Off freezes the stony Sand Corridor, not even horse hoofs could get by.

For the emperor, the general willingly all hardship and difficulties undertakes,
Vowing to settle the dust at the borders to repay His Majesty's grace.
Throughout time, who could forget those who history takes note of?
His achievement to date surely leaves that of many ancients in his wake.

.

中文原文﹕

君不見
走馬川行雪海邊，
平沙莽莽黃入天。
輪臺九月風夜吼，
一川碎石大如斗，
隨風滿地石亂走。
匈奴草黃馬正肥，
金山西見煙塵飛，
漢家大將西出師。

將軍金甲夜不脫，
半夜軍行戈相撥，
風頭如刀面如割。
馬毛帶雪汗气蒸，
五花連錢旋作冰，
幕中草檄硯水凝。
虜騎聞之應膽懾，
料知短兵不敢接，
車師西門佇獻捷。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

Do you not see
Along the Galloping River towards the Great Salt Lake the army trudge,
In the broad desert feeling at sea, whirling in the sky is ochre dust.
At the Town of Wheelbase, winds of September roar at night,
Shattered are rocks and even boulders on the riverbed that has become dry,
Rolling in the wind are stones and pebbles scattering about far and wide.
Over in the Hun territory, the grasses are turning yellow and horses well fed,
Through the dust storm comes an emergency from the Golden Mountains' west,
That requires a Han general to lead his troops to westwards expedite.

Even at night General Feng never takes off his armour,
During night marches, weapons and arms would scrape and clank one another,
As their faces are exposed in the wind that cuts like swords.
On horses and their mane fall snowflakes that soon are melted by sweat,
And turn to frost once the horses stop, regardless if they are thoroughbreds.
Even the inkwell used for drafting summonses to arms have become frozen inside the tent.
Upon hearing of our intent, the Hun would no doubt suffer a fright,
It is to be expected that they may not be willing to engage in a close fight,
And may already be waiting at the Jushi Tribe's West Gate to submit their sacrifice .

.

中文原文﹕

棄我去者、
昨日之日不可留；
亂我心者、
今日之日多煩憂。
長風萬里送秋雁，
對此可以酣高樓。

蓬萊文章建安骨，
中間小謝又清發，
俱懷逸興壯思飛，
欲上青天覽明月。

抽刀斷水水更流，
舉杯銷愁愁更愁。
人生在世不稱意，
明朝散髮弄扁舟。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

Gone away from me
Is the day of yesterday that cannot be held on to;
What disturbs me
Is the day today happens to be that is full of worries and gloom.
For thousands of miles the wind blows sending autumn geese on their way,
We shall drink to our hearts' content here on a tower with a commanding view.

At the Secretariat you write time-honoured pieces,
Akin to that of Xie Tao they are also refreshing and full of grace,
Harbouring aspirations enthusiastic, brave and lofty,
As if it could lift one into the sky to gaze at the moon up close.

I could brandish my glaive at water but that interrupts not its flow,
I could chalice after chalice drink up to quell the melancholy only to sink further below.
Such is life that hardly expectations satisfy,
Why not let the hair down tomorrow morn and set sail on a little boat.

.

中文原文﹕

風吹柳花滿店香，
吳姬壓酒喚客嘗；
金陵子弟來相送，
欲行不行各盡觴。
請君試問東流水，
別意與之誰短長？

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

Willow catkins scatter in the wind and into the tavern breezes a flowery scent,
A charming Wu lady calls out to customers to taste wine just fermented;
My Jingling friends have arrived to bid me farewell,
About to go yet cannot bear to break away I drink up with them goblet after goblet.
Consider this, my friends, the endlessly eastbound waters
And parting sorrow in comparison, which persists for a greater length?

.

中文原文﹕

海客談瀛洲，
煙濤微茫信難求；
越人語天姥，
雲霓明滅或可覩。

天姥連天向天橫，
勢拔五嶽掩赤城；
天臺四萬八千丈，
對此欲倒東南傾。

我欲因之夢吳越，
一夜飛渡鏡湖月。
湖月照我影，
送我至剡溪；
謝公宿處今尚在，
淥水蕩漾清猿啼。
腳著謝公屐，
身登青雲梯，
半壁見海日，
空中聞天雞。
千巖萬壑路不定，
迷花倚石忽已暝。
熊咆龍吟殷巖泉，
慄深林兮驚層巔。
雲青青兮欲雨，
水澹澹兮生煙。
列缺霹靂，
邱巒崩摧，
洞天石扇，
訇然中開；
青冥浩蕩不見底，
日月照耀金銀台。
霓為衣兮風為馬，
雲之君兮紛紛而來下；
虎鼓瑟兮鸞回車，
仙之人兮列如麻。
忽魂悸以魄動，
怳驚起而長嗟！
惟覺時之枕席，
失向來之煙霞。
世間行樂亦如此，
古來萬事東流水。

別君去兮何時還？
且放白鹿青崖間，
須行即騎訪名山，
安能摧眉折腰事權貴，
使我不得開心顏？

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

Seafarers speak of uncharted lands in the East Sea,
Yet all anyone has ever seen of it are billows and fog, nothing to prove such a belief.
South of the Yangtze's mouth, they speak of the Heavenly Matriarch Mountains,
Though around it hover clouds bright or dim, visible sometimes it her countenance.

The Heavenly Matriarch touches the sky and across the it her mountains range,
Her imposing manner rivals the five eminent peaks and eclipses Mount Crimson Gate;
The Sky Terrace Mountains may be a hundred miles high,
Yet it seems it may topple over in the south-eastern corner any day.

I'd love to dream my way there and the land of Wu and Yue visualise,
And take flight across the Mirror Lake and the reflected moon overnight.
I'd like to reflect myself in the reflected moon,
And flow with the waters to where the creek of Shan begins;
There I would still be able to locate where Master Xie used to reside,
Among rippling green waters and occasional howling of gibbons so clear.
Donning a pair of wooden shoes like Xie,
I would in a haze stairs climb as if they are the stairway to heaven,
To rise above on a cliff to watch the sun emerge from the sea,
And hear heavenly crows in the open sky of a summit.
Among thousands of precipices and valleys, hard to follow is a trail,
It's hard not to lose your way in the shade among flowers or come to boulders face.
I'd hear dragons hum and bears roar surrounded by murmurs of creeks,
With fear, the deep woods, forests and stratified cliffs seem to shake.
Clouds livid turn and rain is about to pour,
From the placid waters rises a smoky haze.
Suddenly lightning strikes with thunderbolts,
And the mountains crumble away,
A stone gate to a cave
breaks open in a thud;
Out comes the sun in an abysmally deep blue sky,
On the Terraces of Immortals shines the light of day.
Donning glowing clouds for robes and riding the wind like a courser,
The pagan gods of clouds arrive treading on air one after another.
There is a tiger playing zither while green phoenixes drive carriages,
More immortals appear to their places take.
Suddenly horror-stricken and aghast with apprehension,
I wake up frightened to a deep breath take!
There remain only the pillow and bed that I slept on,
Vanished are the glowing clouds and smoky fog.
Without exception such is the nature of worldly pleasures,
Ever since the beginning of time everything passes away like eastbound waters.

Now I bid you all farewell, I wonder when I could hither return?
Release for me a white deer in a green valley,
So that when I must travel far, I could ride it to eminent mountains visit,
Why agree to bow my head and break my back to serve the influential and the rich,
And deprivation of my happiness and an ear-to-ear grin?

.

中文原文﹕

我本楚狂人，
鳳歌笑孔丘。
手持綠玉杖，
朝別黃鶴樓；
五嶽尋仙不辭遠，
一生好入名山遊。

廬山秀出南斗傍，
屏風九疊雲錦張；
影落明湖青黛光，
金闕前開二峰長。
銀河倒挂三石梁，
香爐瀑布遙相望。
迴崖沓障淩蒼蒼，
翠影紅霞映朝日，
鳥飛不到吳天長。
登高壯觀天地間，
大江茫茫去不還。
黃雲萬里動風色，
白波九道流雪山。

好為廬山謠，
興因廬山發。
閑窺石鏡清我心，
謝公行處蒼苔沒。
早服還丹無世情，
琴心三疊道初成。
遙見仙人綵雲裏，
手把芙蓉朝玉京。
先期汗漫九垓上，
願接盧敖遊太清。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

I've always been like the madman of Chu,
Singing satires on Confucian ideals.
In my hand is a cane as green as jade,
As I farewell the Tower of Yellow Storks at daybreak;
Distance matters not as I go around visiting the five eminent peaks hoping to find sages,
For I love climbing renowned mountains in my living days.

The Lu Mountains divide the land with the Archer drawing bow overhead,
The landscape expands like a screen of nine folds embellished with clouds in the sky;
There ripple reflections of mountains in the lake shining green dazzles,
The Stone Gate Summit sits like a palace flanked by two peaks by its sides.
Waters stream from hills like the Milky Way overhung, straddled by three stone bridges,
Over there cascades a waterfall off the Peak of Fragrant Furnace on the other side.
Surrounded and barricaded by precipices among boundless fog, I feel like I'm taking flight.
Mountains are brilliantly green and clouds aglow in the morning sun,
There is not a bird on the wing in the vast domain of the Wu skies.
Having surmounted such height to look far into the world,
There the Yangtze rushes away spectacularly, never to return.
The weather is about to change as thousands of miles of glowing clouds drift in the wind,
Waterfalls cap mountains like snow, down they flow on their separate ways into nine rivers.

I come up with a lyric on the Lu Mountains to a folk song,
As I my moments in the Lu Mountains enjoy.
By the Stone Mirror I reflect on myself to clear my mind,
Where Master Xie left his footprints has long been covered by layers of moss.
Maybe in order to the worldly forget I should resort to alchemy,
To help me accumulate intrinsic strength and focus on the essence of Taoist practice.
I seem to see a sage riding among colourful clouds,
She has a lotus in her hand as she makes her way towards the celestial palace.
I've made a pact with you to journey to the farthest, beyond the nine levels of skies,
And join the legendary Lu Ao on our way to sightsee heaven's grandness.

.

中文原文﹕

山寺鐘鳴晝已昏，
漁梁渡頭爭渡喧；
人隨沙路向江村，
余亦乘舟歸鹿門。
鹿門月照開煙樹，
忽到龐公棲隱處；
巖扉松徑長寂寥，
惟有幽人自來去。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

From a temple in the mountains comes bell toll, the day has seen the sun set,
At the Yuliang wharf, uproarious are people in a hurry to board ferries;
Along the sandy path there are those turning to their riverside settlements,
While I'm on my boat on my return to Lumen.
Lumen in the moonshine is a picture of trees and their shadows amid misty waters,
Inadvertently I come to where Master Pang secluded his life;
There rests solitude gated by rocky mountains and detached by a path lined with pines,
Only a recluse would ever come here to retire.

.

中文原文﹕

南山截竹為觱篥，
此樂本自龜茲出。
流傳漢地曲轉奇，
涼州胡人為我吹。
傍鄰聞者多歎息，
遠客思鄉皆淚垂。

世人解聽不解賞，
長飆風中自來往。
枯桑老柏寒颼飀，
九雛鳴鳳亂啾啾，
龍吟虎嘯一時發，
萬籟百泉相與秋。

忽然更作漁陽摻，
黃雲蕭條白日暗。
變調如聞楊柳春，
上林繁花照眼新。
歲夜高堂列明燭，
美酒一杯聲一曲。

英文翻譯 / English Translation﹕

Bamboos from the Zhongnan Mountains are used to make reeded pipes,
This type of instrument originated from Qiuci way out in the west.
Once it has spread to China, the tunes have evolved and unique become,
Here is a Tartar from Liangzhou playing me a piece of note.
Nearly all those around me let out a sigh or two as they listen,
Moving those far from home, bringing tears to flow.

Folks listen but often fail to its essence appreciate,
In stormy winds ascends and descents lonely music of varying scales.
Sometimes it's like withered mulberry and ancient cypress trees soughing in the chill,
Or the frenzied screaming of nine phoenix fledglings,
Other times it's like the coming together of dragon hum and tiger roars,
A symphony of springs, streams and various sounds narrating subdued autumnal serenity.

Suddenly the tune turns to resemble the Lament of Yuyang,
Projecting the lonesomeness of ochre clouds and the greying white sun.
Yet another turn brings about the Spring of Willows,
Depicting the royal garden in full bloom and its magnificence glow.
On this New Year's Eve, the hall is lined with candles burning bright,
Here I am savouring a concert in the company of good wine.

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