translations

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[daylilyy]

uh...i may or may not have forgotten this was a thing 😂i mostly just use this account as an archiving blog anyway. i do have something exciting coming up tho, stay tuned!

[daylilyy]

A Conviction of Homeland - Xigua JUN [一念山河 - 西瓜JUN」

一念山河 - 西瓜JUN A Conviction of Homeland - Xigua JUN

文案： 建炎元年，徽钦北虏，易安居士载书十五车，连舻渡淮，又渡江，至建康。 绍兴四年，避乱金华，作《金石录后序》，又作《打马赋》，虽嬉谈文字，却讽朝廷庸碌，叹江山易色。 绍兴十三年，勘《金石录》表进庙堂，以悼明诚。二十五年，殒于临安，享年七十有三。 此去二十八年，齐州鸦鼓，历下胡言，但无山河泪，空留一念归。

Background: ’Twas year one of the Jianyan Era of Northern Song, the Emperors Xian and Ren had been taken hostages by the Jin dynasty of the north. Li Qingzhao, also known as the Householder of Yi’an, fled southward with fifteen carriages of books, crossing first the Huai River, then the Yangtze, and finally arrived at Jiankang (modern day Nanjing). ’Twas year four of the Shaoxing Era, she left for Jinhua to avoid conflicts, penned an epilogue to Jin Shi Lu, as well as Da Ma Fu. Though she toyed with words, she mocked the monarch of its corruption and anguished the overturning of her homeland. ’Twas year thirteen of the Shaoxing Era, she revised Jin Shi Lu to be enshrined in their ancestral temple as a memorial to her late husband Zhao Mingcheng. She passed away in Lin’an (modern day Hangzhou) in year twenty-five, aged seventy-three. Thus, twenty-eight years have passed since she left her northern homeland. Drums boomed statewide, nonsense filled the flipped calendar pages, though the landscape cannot weep, she had in her a vain conviction to return.

挽丝浸长江 秋风凉 Hair brushed back dipped into the Yangtze, amid cold autumn winds 与君话朔方 茫茫 With you I spoke of northern tundras, vast and empty as they were 惨惨戚戚山河梦 The sorrowful and woeful dreams of native landscapes 冷冷清清唱 I sang to them with a voice crisp and cool 碧云归鸿望断肠 Into cerulean clouds glided returning geese, as I gazed unto my heartache’s end 故乡 Unto homeland

一念系河山 A conviction belonging to native landscapes 一念化雁返 A conviction returning as soaring geese 宽袖恹凭栏 In loose robes I leaned unaffectionate against railings 夜雨风声烦 Noises of midnight showers and winds displeased me so 枯手剪灯晚 With a weak hand I clipped the candlewick 空梦长安 I dreamt vainly of Chang’an [1] 山河星云暗 Of the landscape stars and clouds dimmed 山河落花残 Of the landscape petals drifted to remains 易安亦难安 Even Yi’an’s anxiousness cannot be eased [2] 笔下存旧念 At the brush tip gathered past memories 确是千万遍 Memories that told countless times 千万遍阳关 Countless times of Yangguan Pass [3]

把绿蚁新尝 Tasting the newly brewed wine 近重阳 Near the time of Chong Yang Festival [4] 一番风雨凉 I stood amid a surge of cold showers and wind 薄裳 Thinly robed 寻寻觅觅凄凄惶 Despairingly how I searched and sought 故国相去长 The long gone native country 梦里山河染墨香 In dreams were landscapes washed with ink 不忘 Unforgotten

一念系河山 A conviction belonging to native landscapes 一念化雁返 A conviction returning as soaring geese 宽袖恹凭栏 In loose robes I leaned unaffectionate against railings 夜雨风声烦 Noises of midnight showers and winds displeased me so 枯手剪灯晚 With a weak hand I clipped the candlewick 空梦长安 I dreamt vainly of Chang’an 山河星云暗 Of the landscape stars and clouds dimmed 山河落花残 Of the landscape petals drifted to remains 易安亦难安 Even Yi’an’s anxiousness cannot be eased 笔下存旧念 At the brush tip gathered past memories 确是千万遍 Memories that told countless times 千万遍阳关 Countless times of Yangguan Pass

一念系河山 A conviction belonging to native landscapes 一念化雁返 A conviction returning as soaring geese 宽袖恹凭栏 In loose robes I leaned unaffectionate against railings 夜雨风声烦 Noises of midnight showers and winds displeased me so 枯手剪灯晚 With a weak hand I clipped the candlewick 空梦长安 I dreamt vainly of Chang’an 山河星云暗 Of the landscape stars and clouds dimmed 山河落花残 Of the landscape petals drifted to remains 易安亦难安 Even Yi’an’s anxiousness cannot be eased 笔下存旧念 At the brush tip gathered past memories 确是千万遍 Memories that told countless times 笔下存旧念 At the brush tip gathered past memories 确是千万遍 Memories that told countless times 千万遍阳关 Countless times of Yangguan Pass

[1] Here, Chang’an, a city that was the capital of many dynasties before the Northern Song Dynasty, alludes to the actual capital of Northern Song, Bianliang (modern day Kaifeng). The lyrics express the poet’s longing for her home country.

[2] Li Qingzhao penned under the pseudonym “Householder of Yi’an”, Yi’an translating to “easily at peace”. This line is meant to express the irony of the uneasiness of someone who supposedly is “easily at peace”.

[3] Yangguan Pass is a fortified mountain pass in Northwestern China. This line alludes to both a work by Li Qingzhao and the poem Seeing Yuan'er off on a Mission to Anxi by Wang Wei. In ancient China, Yangguan Pass was the final stop for travellers departing China and heading out west, and it’s often associated with sad partings. This line expresses Li Qingzhao’s sadness of parting with her homeland.

[4] Chong Yang Festival is a traditional Chinese festival that falls on September 9th of the lunar calendar. It’s customary to climb high mountains and drink chrysanthemum liquor on this day.

[daylilyy]

碧空瓦蓝如洗，流云飘絮飞转，一缕光线破云而出。随即千万金光就像天神射出的黄金利箭，于尘世中贯穿天地，照亮了祖国西南广袤的山川、河流、城市与村庄。

恭州烈士陵园中，重重松柏苍翠挺劲，无数石碑屹立向天。

The azure sky was washed a saturated blue; thin sheets of clouds danced and leapt into wisps, and a ray of light broke through the clouds. Then, thousands of golden rays pierced through the air and earth as if they were golden arrows fired by a deity, illuminating mountains, rivers, cities, and villages scattered on the southwestern soils of homeland.

In Gongzhou Martyrs’ Cemetery, columns of giant pines and cypresses shot tall, and rows of tombstones stood erect.

——《破云》by 淮上

[daylilyy]

纵使千疮百孔，年华老去，我还有你寻遍千山万水，踏破生死之际——

再次相聚之前，谢谢你带我回到这人世间。

Even if my soul and body are battered with wounds, even if my youthfulness fades with passing time, I still have you who will climb over every peak and dive into every sea in search of me, you who will rip through the moment of life and death – before we encounter again, thank you for bringing me back to this world.

——《破云》by 淮上

[daylilyy]

他不能让人发现，江支队长坦荡平静的身影后，一个因为过于瘦弱而有些笨拙可笑的小男孩，正捧着比他半人还高的塑料水盆，蹒跚跨过门槛，努力走向盛夏苍白煞亮、蝉声喧闹刺耳的午后，渐渐融进一场永远也醒不来的噩梦里。

He can’t let anyone discover that behind Commander Jiang’s plain and tranquil silhouette, a little boy who seemed clumsy and comical from being underweight was carrying a plastic wash basin taller than half his height. Stumbling over the doorframe, he was trying his best to walk into the glaring brightness and screeching cicada chorus of a midsummer’s afternoon, gradually blending into a nightmare that he will never wake up from.  

——《破云》by 淮上

[daylilyy]

“我到今天才觉得，原来自己真是个特别幸运的人……说来也奇怪，我都生下来三十多年了，今天才突然有了这么强烈的感触。你呢？”

“……我也很幸运吧，但也不能算特别，只是……比一般人幸运吧。”

“你也是到今天才这么想的？”

“不。从再次遇见你的那一天起，我就这么想了。”

“It wasn’t until today that I thought myself to be, in fact, an extremely fortunate person…it’s strange, I’ve been alive for more than thirty years, and it wasn’t until today that I felt such a strong sentiment. What about you?”

“…I’ve been fortunate, too, I guess, but not extremely, just…more fortunate than the average person.”

“Did you also come to think of that today?”

“No. I’ve been thinking that since the day we encountered again.”

——《破云》by 淮上

[daylilyy]

“是看一眼少一眼。就算咱俩一块活到九十九，不也是过一天少一天吗？没毛病。”

“我活到九十九，你九十七就够了。”

“Well yeah, every time I look at you means one less time I get to see you, even if both of us live until we’re ninety-nine, every passing day means one less day alive, so that’s not wrong.”

“If I live until I’m ninety-nine, you only need to live until you’re ninety-seven.”

——《破云》by 淮上

[daylilyy]

时光飞快倒退，河水溯流而上，爆炸后的满目疮痍还原成昔日模样，累累伤痕化为乌有，英灵肩扛荣光奔赴天堂。

Time rapidly elapsed backwards; river currents rushed upstream; explosion wreckages pieced back together their remnants and fragments; numerous scars dissipated into nothingness; heroic souls departed for heaven shouldering honour and glory.

——《破云》by 淮上

[daylilyy]

“观念、习惯、性格、气质、道德水平、文化修养……这些可以后天改变的东西，就像是植物的枝叶，只要你愿意，你可以把自己往任何方向修剪。但是更深层次、更本质的东西却很难改变，就是在你对这个世界还没有什么概念时，最早从成长环境里接触过的东西，因为这些东西会沉淀在你的潜意识里，你心里每一个通过母语获得的抽象概念里，都藏着那些东西的蛛丝马迹，你自己都意识不到，但它会笼罩你的一生。”

“A person’s mindset, habits, personality, aura, integrity, cultivation…these qualities that can change from nurture are like a plant’s branches and leaves, if you wish, you can prune yourself to grow in any direction. But the deeper, more intrinsic qualities are extremely hard to change, the things you encountered in the environment of your early upbringing when you lacked any conceptual knowledge of this world. These things will become sediment in your subconsciousness, their tiny traces concealed within every abstract concept you absorb from your mother tongue, and even though you don’t realize it yourself, it will envelope your entire life.”

——《默读》by priest

[daylilyy]

寒夜里，霜花如刻，有万家灯火——

……也有不为人知的角落，弥漫着难以想象的黑暗。

Frost carved intricate patterns into glass panes in the freezing night. Behind brightly lit windows gathered countless families…and into forgotten corners dissolved unimaginable darkness.

——《默读》by priest

[daylilyy]

平凡之路 - 朴树

a revamp of my 2017 translation

a song that I’ve been listening on loop for five years

——————

平凡之路 - 朴树

The Ordinary Road - Pu Shu

徘徊着的 在路上的

The wandering ones, the journeying ones

你要走吗

Are you leaving?

易碎的 骄傲着

Fragile and proud

那也曾是我的模样

Just like I once was

沸腾着的 不安着的

The fervent ones, the uneasy ones

你要去哪

Where are you going?

谜一样的 沉默着的

The mysterious ones, the silent ones

故事你真的在听吗

Are you really listening to the story?

我曾经跨过山和大海

I’ve conquered mountains and oceans

也穿过人山人海

And weaved through seas of people

我曾经拥有着的一切

I once had everything within my grasp

转眼都飘散如烟

They dissolved into wisps in the blink of an eye

我曾经失落失望失掉所有方向

I’ve despaired, disappointed, and lost all sense of direction

直到看见平凡才是唯一的答案

Until I realized ordinariness is the only answer

当你仍然 还在幻想

When you’re still daydreaming

你的明天

About your future

她会好吗 还是更烂

Will she be better, or even worse?

对我而言是另一天

To me it’s just another day

我曾经毁了我的一切

I once destroyed everything

只想永远地离开

Simply hoping to leave forever

我曾经堕入无边黑暗

I’ve fallen into an abyss of darkness

想挣扎无法自拔

I struggled but could not escape

我曾经像你像他像那野草野花

I once was like you, like him, like the wild grasses and flowers

绝望着 也渴望着

Desperate and eager

也哭也笑平凡着

And laughed, and cried, and lived ordinarily

向前走 就这么走

Move forward, just like that

就算你被给过什么

Even if you’ve been endowed something

向前走 就这么走

Move forward, just like that

就算你被夺走什么

Even if you’ve been robbed of something

向前走 就这么走

Move forward, just like that

就算你会错过什么

Even if you’ll miss something

向前走 就这么走

Move forward, just like that

就算会

Even if...

我曾经跨过山和大海

I’ve conquered mountains and oceans

也穿过人山人海

And weaved through seas of people

我曾经拥有着的一切

I once had everything within my grasp

转眼都飘散如烟

They dissolved into wisps in the blink of an eye

我曾经失落失望失掉所有方向

I’ve despaired, disappointed, and lost all sense of direction

直到看见平凡才是唯一的答案

Until I realized ordinariness is the only answer

我曾经毁了我的一切

I once destroyed everything

只想永远地离开

Simply hoping to leave forever

我曾经堕入无边黑暗

I’ve fallen into an abyss of darkness

想挣扎无法自拔

I struggled but could not escape

我曾经像你像他像那野草野花

I once was like you, like him, like the wild grasses and flowers

绝望着 也渴望着

Desperate and eager

也哭也笑平凡着

And laughed, and cried, and lived ordinarily

我曾经跨过山和大海

I’ve conquered mountains and oceans

也穿过人山人海

And weaved through seas of people

我曾经问遍整个世界

I once asked the entire world

从来没得到答案

But never received an answer

我不过像你像他像那野草野花

I’m simply like you, like him, like the wild grasses and flowers

冥冥中这是我 唯一要走的路啊

This is the only road I’m destinied to follow

时间无言 如此这般

Time is silent, just as thus

明天已在

The future is before your eyes

风吹过的 路依然远

There’s still a long way to where the wind has reached

你的故事讲到了哪

How much of your story have you told?

[official music video]

Originally posted on @hyokas, but I decided to move all my translations onto this blog.