"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 a young man and woman who are in love with each other. This paragraph is the woman asking.
The first two lines: May I ask where your home is, Brother? My home is living in Hengtang, Jiankang.
The river is flowing, the boats are endless, two boats meet by chance, 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 favor.
The last two sentences: stop the boat let’s ask for a moment, listen to the accent, I’m afraid we are the same hometown.
But do not want to let the man feel too abrupt, too presumptuous, so add a sentence: “temporarily stop the boat to ask a question, 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 whole poem has no gorgeous rhetoric, no deep meaning, just a shallow life scene, a commonplace conversation, simple ink, simple to the extreme.
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.
