"Tell me, where do you live? --
Near here, by the fishing-pool?
Let's hold our boats together, let's see
If we belong in the same town."
Original Poem:
「长干行 · 其一」
崔颢
君家何处住， 妾住在横塘。
停船暂借问， 或恐是同乡。
Interpretation:
This is a passage of young men and women who are in love with each other. One of them is a woman’s question, and the other is a man’s answer.
The river is flowing, the boats are endless, two boats meet by chance, and the woman in the boat asks the man in the other boat, “Where does your family live? My family lives in Hengtang.” Never met before, rashly asked each other, but also self-reported home, it is clear that the woman has been on the man’s heart. But do not want to let the man feel too abrupt, too presumptuous, so added: “temporarily stop the boat to ask, I’m afraid we are the same hometown.” It is indeed rare to meet a fellow countryman in another country, and this pretext is also apt. Instead of saying that the girl is sensitive, it is better to say that the poet’s craftsmanship. In just four lines, the image of a warm and cheerful, simple and honest boatwoman jumps off the page. Meet your favorite person, no pretense, no coyness, just natural, open and honest, frank and spontaneous.
The man’s attitude is not very clear, in fact, not, “live in Jiujiang, come and go in Jiujiang side,” answered the specific details quite can cause us to “sister intends to Lang have love” guess. “are Nanjing people” draws the psychological distance between the two, showing a sense of identity. “We have not known each other since childhood” is the reality of life, reflecting the man’s simplicity and generosity.
The whole poem has no gorgeous rhetoric, no profound meaning, just a simple scene of life, an ordinary conversation, simple and plain to the extreme. The poem is simple and plain to the extreme. However, it is condensed and concentrated, implicit and full of rich life flavor, and the characters’ images, emotions, demeanor, and life background are vividly vivid.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Cui Hao (崔颢), A.D. ? – 754, a native of Kaifeng, Henan Province. He was admitted as a scholar in 723 AD. At that time, Cui Hao was well known, along with Wang Changling, Gao Shi, Meng Haoran, and Wang Wei.
