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English translation of Tang poetry and Song poetry: Du Mu Qingming (different versions by eight famous artists)

Du Mu (83-852) Qingming

During the Qingming period, it rained a lot, and pedestrians on the road wanted to die.

excuse me, where is the restaurant? The shepherd boy laughed and did not answer the apricot mountain village.

translated by Tang Yihe:

Pure Brightness (Qing Ming) Festival

By Du MU

It’s drizzling thickly and profusely

On the Pure Brightness Day.

A wayfarer is overwhelmed with sorrows

On his way.

“Excuse me, can you tell me

Where to find a wineshop in the village?”

“Over there, ” the shepherd boy pointing to

The distant Apricot Blossoms Village.

Note and Commentary:

The poem describes a pedestrian traveling in the cou ntryside in the midst of drizzling on the Qing Ming Festival, Who asks a shepherd boy where to find a wine shop to dispel his sorrows.

translated by Chen Junpu:

The Qingming Festival

By Du Mu

On the Qingming Day, rain is falling uninterrupted,

And the wayfarer is more than ever broken-hearted;

“Is there any wine shop hereabouts?” A buffalo boy

points to a distant village where apricots are spotted.

Tsai Tingkan translated:

The rain falls thick and fast on all souls' day,

The men and women sadly move along the way.

They ask where wineshops can be found or where to rest ----

And there the herdboy's fingers Almon D-Town suggest.

Translated by One Wang and Wang Xian:

The Ceaseless Drizzle Drips All the Dismal Day,

So broken-hearted fares the traveler on the way.

When asked where could be found a tavern bower,

a cowboy points to yonder village of the apricotflower.

translated by Xu Yuanchong:

a driving rain falls like teachers on the mourning day;

The mourner's heart is going to break on his way.

Where can a wineshop be found to drown his sad hours?

a cow points to a cot's mid April flowers.

translated by Wu juntao:

it drills thick and fast on the pure brightness day,

I travel with my heart lost in dismay.

"Is there a public house somewhere, cowboy?"

He Points at Apricot Village Far Away.

Translated by Yang Xianyi and Dai Naidie:

It drills endless during the rainy season in spring,

Travelers along the road look gloomy and miserable.

When I ask a shepherd boy where I can find a tavern,

he points at a distant hamlet nesting amidst apricot explosions.

translated by Sun Dayu:

the clear-and-bridge feast

by du mu

upon the clear-and-bright Fe. ast of spring

The rain drizzleth down in spray.

Pedestrians on country-side ways

In gloom are pining away.

When asked “where a tavern fair For rest

is here about to be found ",

The shepherd boy the apricot bloom vill

Doth point to afar and say.

This day is the Qingming Festival. The poet Xiao Du happened to be caught in the rain in the middle of his journey. Qingming, although it is a season of bright green flowers and bright spring, is also a period when the climate is prone to change, and even "high winds and even rain" sometimes. However, the drizzle on this day is the kind of rain that is "like a crisp rain in the sky"-this is also the characteristic of the spring rain. This "rain after rain" conveys the sad and beautiful realm of "being cold and deceiving flowers and trapping smoke in willows"

There is no doubt that this "one after another" here describes the artistic conception of the spring rain; But it is more than that. It also has a special function, that is, it actually describes the mood of the traveler in the rain.

Look at the following sentence: "Pedestrians on the road want to kill their souls". A "pedestrian" is a person who travels away from home. So what is "broken soul"? In poetry, "soul" refers to mostly spiritual and emotional things. "Soul-breaking" is trying to describe the deep hidden feelings that are very strong, but not clearly expressed outside. In ancient customs, Tomb-Sweeping Day is a big festival with rich colors and emotional appeal. It should have been a family reunion, or a play or a grave. Nowadays, pedestrians travel alone, feeling sad, and the taste of their hearts is complicated. It happened that it caught up with the drizzle again, and the spring shirt was all wet, which added a layer of sadness. Therefore, the poet used the word "broken soul"; Otherwise, if it rains a little, it is worth "breaking the soul". Isn't that unreasonable? In this way, we can return to the word "one after another". Originally, people who travel during the festive season already have a lot of worries. In addition, they are scattered in the rain and wind, and they are walking in the rain, which makes their mood even more sorrowful. Therefore, they describe spring rain in succession, but they can also describe emotions, or even describe spring rain, that is, to describe emotions. This is a unique skill and a kind of scenery in Chinese classical poetry, in which feelings are in the scenery, and scenery is feelings.

the first two sentences explain the scene, and then write an idea that pedestrians come to mind at this moment: where to find a small hotel. The matter is very clear: when you find a small hotel, you can take a rest to avoid the rain, and then you can have three drinks to relieve the chilly people's cold in spring, warm the clothes wet by the rain, and, most importantly, you can relax your worries. So, ask someone for directions.

who did you ask for directions? The poet didn't tell us in the third sentence, but the wonderful thing is in the fourth sentence: "The shepherd boy points to Xinghua Village". Grammatically speaking, "shepherd boy" is the subject of this sentence, but it is also the object of the previous sentence "excuse me"-it complements the two sides of the previous question and answer. Did the shepherd boy answer? We don't know, but taking "action" as a reply is more vivid and powerful than an answer. We watched the play "Little Cowherd". When someone asked the shepherd boy for directions, he pointed his hand and said, "Please follow my hand!" It is to connect answers with actions-that is, to connect "music" with "pictures", both of which make the viewer enjoy beauty at the same time; Nowadays, the poet's technique is simpler and more superb: he only gives the reader the "picture" and omits the "music"-no, it is better to say that it includes the "music". Readers appreciate the beautiful "picture" of the way, and at the same time they hear the "music" of the answer.

"Yao" literally means far. However, this meaning cannot be observed here. This finger has made us feel like seeing the end of the red apricot, and clearly picking out a wine curtain-"Wine Hope". If it's really far away, it's difficult to have artistic connection. If it's really in front of us, it's lost its endless interest: the beauty lies in not far away. In the Grand View Garden in A Dream of Red Mansions, there is a place named "Apricot Curtain in Sight" by Jingzi, and the expression of "In Sight" comes from this experience, which is just a footnote for Du Lang's sentence. "Xinghua Village" is not necessarily the real village name, nor does it necessarily refer to the restaurant. It only needs to be explained that it is enough to point to this beautiful village deep in apricot blossoms. It goes without saying that there is a small hotel waiting to receive guests walking in the rain.

The poem only comes to an abrupt end when it says "Pointing at the Xinghua Village", and it doesn't take another word. The rest, how the pedestrians are glad to hear the news, how to step forward, how to find the hotel with excitement, how to get the satisfaction and satisfaction of shelter from the rain and sorrow ..., these, the poet can "no matter". He left all this to the reader's imagination, which opened up a much broader imagination for the reader than the Chinese words in the poem showed. This is the "inexhaustible" of art.

This little poem, without any difficult words or allusions, is written in a very popular language, with no traces of management. The syllables are very harmonious and complete, the scene is very fresh and vivid, and the realm is beautiful and interesting. Poetry is also natural in terms of style, and it is written in order. The first sentence explains the scene, environment and atmosphere, which is "up"; The second sentence is "Cheng", which describes the characters and shows their sad and confused state of mind. The third sentence is a "turn", but it also puts forward how to get rid of this state of mind; And this directly forced out the fourth sentence, which became the highlight of the whole article-"He". In art, this is a technique from low to high, gradually rising, and the climax is placed at the end. The so-called climax is not an unobstructed view, but an intriguing aftertaste. These are the brilliant points of the poet, which is worth learning and inheriting!