The fine clouds have opened and the River of Stars is gone, A clear wind blows across the sky, and the moon widens its wave, The sand is smooth, the water still, no sound and no shadow, As I offer you a cup of wine, asking you to sing. But so sad is this song of yours and so bitter your voice That before I finish listening my tears have become a rain: "Where Lake Tung-t'ing is joined to the sky by the lofty Nine-Doubt Mountain, Dragons, crocodiles, rise and sink, apes, Hying foxes, whimper. At a ten to one risk of death, I have reached my official post, Where lonely I live and hushed, as though I were in hiding. I leave my bed, afraid of snakes; I eat, fearing poisons; The air of the lake is putrid, breathing its evil odours . . . . Yesterday, by the district office, the great drum was announcing The crowning of an emperor, a change in the realm. The edict granting pardons runs three hundred miles a day, All those who were to die have had their sentences commuted, The unseated are promoted and exiles are recalled, Corruptions are abolished, clean officers appointed. My superior sent my name in. but the governor would not listen And has only transferred me to this barbaric place. My rank is very low and useless to refer to; They might punish me with lashes in the dust of the street. Most of my fellow exiles are now returning home - A journey which, to me, is a heaven beyond climbing." ...Stop your song, I beg you, and listen to mine, A song that is utterly different from yours: " Tonight is the loveliest moon of the year. All else is with fate, not ours to control; But, refusing this wine, may we choose more tomorrow?"
Original Poem:
「八月十五夜赠张功曹」
韩愈
纤云四卷天无河，清风吹空月舒波。
沙平水息声影绝，一杯相属君当歌。
君歌声酸辞且苦，不能听终泪如雨。
洞庭连天九嶷高，蛟龙出没猩鼯号。
十生九死到官所，幽居默默如藏逃。
下床畏蛇食畏药，海气湿蛰熏腥臊。
昨者州前槌大鼓，嗣皇继圣登夔皋。
赦书一日行万里，罪从大辟皆除死。
迁者追回流者还，涤瑕荡垢清朝班。
州家申名使家抑，坎轲只得移荆蛮。
判司卑官不堪说，未免捶楚尘埃间。
同时辈流多上道，天路幽险难追攀。
君歌且休听我歌，我歌今与君殊科。
一年明月今宵多，人生由命非由他。
有酒不饮奈明何？
Interpretation:
Han Yu spent the Mid-Autumn Festival night with Zhang Zhuan, remembering the past together, which triggered complex inner feelings and led to the composition of this poem. The poem expresses the poet's own sadness about the difficulties in his career path by recounting the hardships he suffered during the period from Zhang's relegation to his amnesty.
The first stanza: The thin clouds are dispersed in all directions, the Milky Way is not seen in the sky, the wind is blowing in the air, and the moonlight is like rippling water waves. The sandy shores of the lake are spread out and the water is quiet, the sound and shadow have all died down, pouring a glass of wine, I advise you should sing to the moon.
The main writing is about the environment of the Mid-Autumn Night Drinking. The sky is high and cloudy, the moon is in the sky, the wind is cool, and all the music is quiet. The poet and Zhang Zhi are looking at the moon with their wine, and remembering the past with their heads bowed. In such a realm, two friends with the same encounter can not help but raise their glasses and drink, and sing generously.
The second paragraph: your song is excessively sour, the song is really sad, I really can not listen to it, long ago tears fall like rain. The waves of Dongting Lake are sky-high, the Jiuqi Mountain is so steep and precipitous, the dragon is in the water, and the scarlet flying squirrels are crying in the mountains. It took me a long time to get to the place where I was relegated to, and I lived in the wilderness, suffering in silence like a criminal hiding and escaping. I was afraid of snake bites when I got out of bed, and I was afraid of being poisoned when I ate, and the wet ground near the sea hid snakes and bugs, and the stench was spread everywhere. The drum in front of the Chenzhou Prefecture gate was beating non-stop yesterday, and the new emperor succeeded to the throne and was determined to employ the wise and capable Kui and Gaotao. The instrument of amnesty was sent to the four directions for thousands of miles a day, and the criminals were reduced by one grade, and the exemption from death was changed to exile. Those who were relegated to banishment were returned, and those who were exiled were called back to purify the filth and blemish, reform the evils and clean up the imperial class. Assassin declared for me, but by the observation of the press, the fate of the bumpy, only to move to the remote Jingban. To be a lowly official, really unbearable to talk about, a fault inevitably have to be beaten, and kneeling on the ground. At that time together with the relegation of the people, most of them have already departed, into the court road is really treacherous, difficult to climb.
Mainly described the miserable life during the relegation and the twists and turns of the transfer, expressing the dissatisfaction with the innocent relegation and the bumpy career path. On the way to the south, it was very difficult and dangerous, the mountains were high and the water was wide, thousands of miles, the land was remote and deserted, the dragon was infested, the wild beasts were in the way, it was like a life of nine deaths, and it was only after ten thousand sufferings that I arrived at the place of my appointment. And here the environment like hiding fugitives, line fear of poisonous snakes, food fear of poisoning, the air is filled with stench, the environment is really bad.
The third paragraph: please stop for a while, listen to me also to sing a song, my song than your song, the mood is very different. The moonlight in a year, only this night is the most beautiful and most, life is all predestined by fate, not in other reasons, there is a wine not drink, how to stand up to this bright moonlight.
According to the beginning of the poem, but also new ideas to persuade themselves, destiny in the sky, should raise a glass to invite the moon, drink. Fully expresses the poet on the eunuchs, their own can not control their own destiny of helplessness and feelings.
The tone of this poem is similar to prose, the language is simple and simple, and it is straightforward, with twists and turns, showing the changes of the poet's feelings very well.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Han Yu (韩愈), 768 - 824 AD, was a native of Luoyang. Orphaned at the age of three, he was raised by his sister-in-law and later entered the academy. Han Yu's poems were innovative and majestic, with a unique style that had a strong influence on Song poetry and extended into the Qing Dynasty.
