《琵琶⾏》
Song of the Lute Player
⽩居易
Bai Juyi
浔阳江头夜送客，枫叶荻花秋瑟瑟。
By the Xunyang River a guest is seen off one night;
Chill the autumn, red the maple leaves and in flower the reeds;
主⼈下马客在船，举酒欲饮⽆管弦。
The host alights from his horse, the guest is aboard,
They raise their cups to drink but have no music.
醉不成欢惨将别，别时茫茫江浸⽉。
Drunk without joy, in sadness they must part;
At the time of parting the river seems steeped in moonlight;
忽闻⽔上琵琶声，主⼈忘归客不发。
Suddenly out on the water a lute is heard;
The host forgets to turn back, the guest delays going.
寻声暗问弹者谁?琵琶声停欲语迟。
Seeking the sound in the dark, we ask who is the player.
The lute is silent, hesitant the reply.
移船相近邀相见，添酒回灯重开宴。
Rowing closer, we ask if we may meet the musician,
Call for more wine, trim the lamp and resume our feast;
千呼万唤始出来，犹抱琵琶半遮⾯。
Only after a thousand entreaties does she appear,
Her face half-hidden behind the lute in her arms.
转轴拨弦三两声，未成曲调先有情。
She tunes up and plucks the strings a few times,
Touching our hearts before even the tune is played;
弦弦掩抑声声思，似诉平⽣不得志。
Each chord strikes a pensive note
As if voicing the disillusion of a lifetime;
低眉信⼿续续弹，说尽⼼中⽆限事。
Her head is bent, her fingers stray over the strings
Pouring out the infinite sorrows of her heart.
轻拢慢捻抹复挑，初为《霓裳》后《六⼳》。
Lightly she pinches in the strings, slowly she strums and plucks them;
First The Rainbow Garments, then The Six Minor Notes.
⼤弦嘈嘈如急⾬，⼩弦切切如私语。
The high notes wail like pelting rain,
The low notes whisper like soft confidences;
嘈嘈切切错杂弹，⼤珠⼩珠落⽟盘。
Wailing and whispering interweave
Like pearls large and small cascading on a plate of jade,
间关莺语花底滑，幽咽泉流冰下难。
Like a warbling oriole gliding below the blossom,
Like a mountain brook purling down a bank,
冰泉冷涩弦凝绝，凝绝不通声暂歇。
Till the brook turns to ice, the strings seem about snap,
About to snap, and for one instant all is still
别有幽愁暗恨⽣，此时⽆声胜有声。
Only an undertone of quiet grief
Is more poignant in the silence than any sound;
银瓶乍破⽔浆迸，铁骑突出⼑枪鸣。
Then a silver bottle is smashed, out gushes the water,
Armoured riders charge, their swords and lances clang!
曲终收拨当⼼画，四弦⼀声如裂帛。
When the tune ends, she draws her pick full across
And the four strings give a sound like the tearing of silk.
东船西舫悄⽆⾔，唯见江⼼秋⽉⽩。
Right and left of the boat all is silence —
We see only the autumn moon, silver in midstream.
沉吟放拨插弦中，整顿⾐裳起敛容。
Pensively she puts the pick between the strings,
Straightens her clothes, rises and composes herself.
⾃⾔本是京城⼥，家在虾蟆陵下住。
She is, she says, a girl from the capital
Whose family once lived at the foot of Toad Hill.
⼗三学得琵琶成，名属教坊第⼀部。
At thirteen she learned to play the lute
And ranked first among the musicians;
曲罢曾教善才服，妆成每被秋娘妒。
Her playing was admired by the old masters,
Her looks were the envy of other courtesans;
五陵年少争缠头，⼀曲红绡不知数。
Youths from wealthy districts vied in their gifts to engage her,
A single song brought her countless rolls of red silk;
钿头银篦击节碎，⾎⾊罗裙翻酒污。
Men smashed jeweled and silver trinkets to mark the beat;
Silk skirts as red as blood were stained by spilt wine.
今年欢笑复明年，秋⽉春风等闲度。
Pleasure and laughter from one year to the next.
While the autumn moon and spring breeze passed unheeded.
弟⾛从军阿姨死，暮去朝来颜⾊故。
Then her brother joined the army, her aunt died,
The days and nights slipped by and her beauty fades,
门前冷落鞍马稀，⽼⼤嫁作商⼈妇。
No more carriages and horsemen thronged her gate,
And growing old she became a merchant’s wife.
商⼈重利轻别离，前⽉浮梁买茶去。
The merchant thought only of profit: to seek it he leaves her.
Two months ago he went to Fuliang to buy tea,
去来江⼝守空船，绕船⽉明江⽔寒。
Leaving her alone in the boat at the mouth of the river;
All around the moonlight is bright, the river is cold,
夜深忽梦少年事，梦啼妆泪红阑⼲。
And late at night, dreaming of her girlhood,
She cries in her sleep, staining her rouged cheeks with tears.
我闻琵琶已叹息，⼜闻此语重唧唧。
The music of her lute has made me sign,
And now she tells this plaintive tale of sorrow;
同是天涯沦落⼈，相逢何必曾相识!
We are both ill-starred, drifting on the face of the earth;
No matter if we were strangers before this encounter.
我从去年辞帝京，谪居卧病浔阳城。
Last year I bade the imperial city farewell;
A demoted official, I lay ill in Xunyang;
浔阳地僻⽆⾳乐，终岁不闻丝⽵声。
Xunyang is a paltry place without any music,
For one year I heard no wind instruments, no strings.
住近湓江地低湿，黄芦苦⽵绕宅⽣。
Now I live on the low, damp flat by the River Pen,
Round my house yellow reeds and bitter bamboos grow rife;
其间旦暮闻何物?杜鹃啼⾎猿哀鸣。
From dawn till dusk I hear no other sounds
But the wailing of night-jars and the moaning of apes.
春江花朝秋⽉夜，往往取酒还独倾。
On a day of spring blossoms by the river or moonlit night in autumn
I often call for wine and drink alone;
岂⽆⼭歌与村笛，呕哑嘲哳难为听。
Of course, there are rustic songs and village pipes,
But their shrill discordant notes grate on my ears;
今夜闻君琵琶语，如听仙乐⽿暂明。
Tonight listening to your lute playing
Was like hearing fairy music; it gladdened my ears.
莫辞更坐弹⼀曲，为君翻作琵琶⾏。
Don’t refuse, but sit down and play another tune,
And I’ll write a Song of the Lute Player for you.
感我此⾔良久⽴，却坐促弦弦转急。
Touched by my words, she stands there for some time,
Then goes back to her seat and played with quickened tempo
凄凄不似向前声，满座重闻皆掩泣。
Music sadder far than the first melody,
And at the sound not a man of us has dry eyes.
座中泣下谁最多?江州司马青衫湿。
The assistant prefect of Jiangzhou is so moved
That his blue coat is wet with tears.
