A strange fear assails from within anon, For in spite of oneself, it would be in vain To quell it though one be brave as Ben and Yu The outcome is the shock at seeing strange things, For it is unknown where they could come from,— Such a big crowd of monstrous devilkins, As if they were born of spirits weird and wild, Or owe their lives to some wayward godlings, They seem to be [bobbing, bolting, trotting] brutes, Or of the [hopping, bipenate,] feathered tribe, Odd and queer, fantastical and grotesque, It is impossible in full to describe. Rising up unto the side of the temple,
One finds the ground level and plane, sans a stone, The horse-shoe shaped ridge opens its bottom wide, With odorous herbs and trees all overgrown. Autumn eupatories, thymes, coumarous, Thickets of scenting umbellets in full blow, Green kingly quan, purple fleur-de-lis in glory, Jie-che sweet, one and all they bloom and grow. Unbroken, interminate, in a lusty state,
The grass-green herbage thrives closely together; The rues spread their perfumes all around them, And birds flock here, of fair songs and fine feather. Some of these, having missed their mates in flight, Are crying sadly for the missed to gather. The constant osprays, the singing orioles, The throstles joyous, the soft plaintive turtle doves, The cuckoos whose cries are like a lone wife‘s, The pheasants of long tail plume nesting above: They chant with sweet harmonious accord, At the prime of their lives, in wanderlust; They intonate and respond each to the others, As they should in one song and in common gust.
12
With the man of fair parts Xian-men Gao Who turned fairy by a mountain brooklet, And another one, the Yulin Elder,
Who likes to gather grains, to serve at the rites, Offerings have been given fine and pure, Prayers made in the ruby-decorated hall, To all the deities divine honours paid
And homage done the star of the supreme god. When all the prayers are said, all wishes laid, The king leaves ridding in a carriage of jade, A quadriga drawn by four dragonets blue, With oriflammes and hanging flags round about; Then, the streamers flutter in one direction, The chord of strings grows mellifluous and stout, And the note of ya flows with a chilly strain, So that, as the winds blow past, it sounds mournful. The tune then becomes plaintive and grieving, It catches one‘s breath and makes one dolefull. Now, hunters are to be let loose in the wild,
Which, seen afar, is spangled with town walls like stars. The word is said that soldiers should go to hunt, And they should keep strictly quiet in their tasks. As yet no arrows have been shot from the bows, But the snares and nets are filled enow soon. Far and wide has been the crossing of water, As the galloping on the grassy plain boon. The flying race has thus far no time to rise, The hoofed beasts are not yet ready to fleet. While the chase takes its course slowly or apace, The games are caught before they could retreat. Those who get the spoils first are preferred for merits, As the carts are already loaded with deers meet. Thenceforth, when the king wants to visit the temple, He will keep a three-day‘s fast beforehand,
13
Choose his day and moment of departure first, Select his carriage and dress in sober black, Erect his standards of clouds, rainbow colours And the cover made of the king-fisher‘s plumes, When the wind has risen and rain has stopped, Ere he takes this voyage of a thousand li. For by clearing the hazy thoughts of the past, Our lord is bound to be keen in wits and sight; He will be anxious for the good of all people; Thus the harms to the state would be set aright; The virtuous and sage would lend timely help; His nine vents would be free from stoppers that choke, His spirits aware of where the sticking lie: And then, let long life come to him for aye!‖
14
潘岳·《秋兴赋》英译
A Fu on Autumn Feelings 孙大雨 译
晋十有四年，余春秋三十有二，始见二毛。以太尉掾，兼虎贲中郎将，寓直于散骑之省。高阁连云，阳景罕曜，珥蝉冕而袭纨绮之士，此焉游处。仆野人也，偃息不过茅屋茂林之下，谈话不过农夫田父之客。摄官承乏，猥厕朝列，夙兴晏寝，匪遑卮宁，譬犹池鱼笼鸟，有江湖山薮之思。于是染翰操纸，慨然而赋。于时秋也，故以―秋兴‖命篇。辞曰：
In the fourteenth year of Jin, having attained the age of thirty-two, I begin to find white hairs on my top. As one of the subordinate knights of the Lord of War and at the same time a lieutenant general of the ―Warriors of Tigerish Dash‖, I serve concurrently as an Imperial Attendant of the Department of Court Affairs. High mansions and pavilion touch the clouds; splendid spectacles shine brilliantly in the sun. Gentlemen wearing coronets decorated with jade cicadae and clothed with taffetas and tiffanies frequent this place. I am a countryman, lying at rest in the past only under a thatched roof and in the luxuriant woods, holding converse formerly but with farmers and tillers of the soil. Taking charge of the official posts to fill up the vacancies, I stand in the ranks of the court; rising early in the morning and retiring late at night, I find no occasion for tranquil repose of heart and mind. It is like fishes in the pond or birds in cages longing for rivers and lakes, marshes and mountains. So I stain my brush and spread paper to compose a fu for giving expression to my thoughts at this time of the autumn, calling it thus Autumn Feelings, which runs like this:
四时忽其代序兮，万物纷以回薄。览花莳之时育兮，察盛衰之所托。感冬索而春敷兮，嗟夏茂而秋落。虽末士之荣悴兮，伊人情之美恶。善乎宋玉之言曰：―悲哉，秋之为气也！萧瑟兮草木摇落而变衰，缭栗兮若在远行，登山临水送将归‖。夫送归怀慕徒之恋兮，远行有羁旅之愤。临川感流以叹逝兮，登山怀远而悼近。彼四戚之疚心兮，遭一涂而难忍。嗟秋日之可哀兮，谅无愁而不尽。
The turnings of the seasons pass speedily, taking place one by one in order; All things shake and avoid one another in ways manifold. I see the blooms and the sprouts growing in their time, And observe the flourish and decline of things by them told. Feeling the desolation of winter and the richness of spring,
I sight at summer‘s luxuriance and autumn‘s leaves russet and gold. From the humble scholar‘s favourable or depressed state, Could be gathered the high or low spirits people in general hold.
15
Well it is said by Song Yu:
―Saddening, ah, is the breath of autumn, lonely and astringent; Shaken by it, grass and woods shed leaves and become enervate; Grieving and cheerless it is as one leaving for a distant land,
Or one going up hills and down to the water-side to bid adieu, returning late.‖ For seeing off and returning, trudging and pining for the one who is gone; Embarking on a long voyage, alone among strangers, sad and forlorn;
Standing beside a stream to muse on its flow and grieve over the fleeting of time; And climbing up mounts to yearn for a distant one, and a near one to mourn: These four grievous burdens weigh down heavily people‘s hearts, Any single one of which would be hard enough to bear; The autumnal days of theirs are so laden with sorrows, That no sort of sadness, say, has not become their share. Over the wilds fly the homing swallows; Above the lowland hovers the marsh falcon A floating haze rises in the morning; In the evening drop the leaves fallen. So then, I lay aside the light fan And put away clothes of gauzy lawn, Sit and lie on mats of fine weave And wear my lined gown.
Trees in my yard rustle and let fall their leaves; Gusts of winds blow on the curtains with might; The cicadae sing in a subdued tone in the cool air; Wild-geese fly in rows southward in flapping flight.
The sky shines more brightly and ever higher does as appear; The livelong daylight gets shorter every day; How the dwindling light shortens the daytime! The cooler night is felt to be much longer in its way. The moon shines in its luminescent rotundity;
The dews in clear translucence fix the cold of the night sky; Beams immaculate spread on the steps and doorway; Crickets sing at the paneled partition in the corridor nearby.
16