【行路難】三首之一 唐 • 李白
金樽清酒斗十千﹐玉盤珍羞值萬錢。
停杯投箸不能食﹐拔劍四顧心茫然。
欲渡黃河冰塞川﹐將登太行雪滿山。
閑來垂釣碧溪上﹐忽復乘舟夢日邊。
行路難﹐行路難﹗多歧路﹐今安在﹖
長風破浪會有時﹐直掛雲帆濟滄海。
XING LU NAN NO. 1 (of 3)("Journeying Is Hard!)
-- by LI BAI (701-762)
-- Translated by Frank C Yue
A small fortune is exquisite wine in bottles of gold,
And fine food on jade plates is worth pieces of coin untold.
I low'r my cup, drop my chopsticks, my appetite has drain'd.
Unsheathing my sword, I look 'round at a loss and in vain!
I'd cross the Yellow River, but blocked by ice I can't go.
I'd climb Mount Taihang, but the sky's darken'd by drifting snow.
Leisurely, I cast my fishing line into a blue stream;
Yet, how I long to take a boat and in the sun day-dream!
Journeying is hard.
Journeying is hard!
To deal with forks in the road, tell me how.
The detours and diversions, where're they now?
One day, I'll ride the long wind, break the waves (and will be free).
Hoisting my sail to touch the clouds, I'll cross the deep blue sea!
閑來垂釣碧溪上﹐忽復乘舟夢日邊:
古代傳說,
1. 姜尚未遇周文王時,曾在磻溪(今陝西寶雞東南)釣魚。
2. 伊尹見湯之前,夢見自己乘舟經過日月之邊。
這裡把兩個典故合用,表示人生變幻難測,世事茫茫。
A brief collection of my attempted English renditions of selected Chinese poems, both contemporary and classical. (Each original classical Chinese poem may be presented in both the traditional and simplified forms, followed by the English translation.) Comments and suggested amendments welcome. (But I may not have the time to respond to every comment.) I am a follower of Andrew W F Wong's excellent blog "Classical Chinese Poems in English".
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