Aust Winner 澳洲长风论坛

[海外逸士]

黯然銷魂者，唯別而已矣！況秦吳兮絕國，復燕宋兮千里。或春苔兮始生，乍秋風兮蹔起。是以行子腸斷，百感悽惻。風蕭蕭而異響，雲漫漫而奇色。舟凝滯於水濱，車逶遲於山側。櫂容與而詎前，馬寒鳴而不息。掩金觴而誰御，橫玉柱而霑軾。居人愁臥，怳若有亡。日下壁而沈彩，月上軒而飛光。見紅蘭之受露，望青楸之離霜。巡曾楹而空揜，撫錦幕而虛涼。知離夢之躑躅，意別魂之飛揚。故別雖一緒，事乃萬族。至若龍馬銀鞍，朱軒繡軸。帳飲東都，送客金谷。琴羽張兮簫鼓陳，燕趙歌兮傷美人。珠與玉兮豔暮秋，羅與綺兮嬌上春。驚駟馬之仰秣，聳淵魚之赤鱗。造分手而銜涕，感寂漠而傷神。乃有劍客慚恩，少年報士。韓國趙廁，吳宮燕市。割慈忍愛，離邦去里。瀝泣共訣，抆血相視。驅征馬而不顧，見行塵之時起。方銜感於一劍，非買價於泉裏。金石震而色變，骨肉悲而心死。或乃邊郡未和，負羽從軍。遼水無極，鴈山參雲。閨中風暖，陌上草薰。日出天而耀景，露下地而騰文。鏡朱塵之照爛，襲青氣之煙熅。攀桃李兮不忍別，送愛子兮霑羅裙。至如一赴絕國，詎相見期？視喬木兮故里，決北梁兮永辭。左右兮魂動，親賓兮淚滋。可班荊兮贈恨，唯樽酒兮敘悲。值秋鴈兮飛日，當白露兮下時。怨復怨兮遠山曲，去復去兮長河湄。又若君居淄右，妾家河陽。同瓊珮之晨照，共金爐之夕香。君結綬兮千里，惜瑤草之徒芳。慚幽閨之琴瑟，晦高臺之流黃。春宮閟此青苔色，秋帳含茲明月光。夏簟清兮晝不暮，冬釭凝兮夜何長！織錦曲兮泣已盡，迴文詩兮影獨傷。儻有華陰上士，服食還山。術既妙而猶學，道已寂而未傳。守丹灶而不顧，鍊金鼎而方堅。駕鶴上漢，驂鸞騰天。蹔遊萬里，少別千年。惟世間兮重別，謝主人兮依然。下有芍藥之詩，佳人之歌。桑中衛女，上宮陳娥。春草碧色，春水綠波。送君南浦，傷如之何！至乃秋露如珠，秋月如珪。明月白露，光陰往來。與子之別，思心徘徊。是以別方不定，別理千名。有別必怨，有怨必盈。使人意奪神駭，心折骨驚。雖淵雲之墨妙，嚴樂之筆精。金閨之諸彥，蘭臺之群英。賦有凌雲之稱，辯有雕龍之聲。誰能摹暫離之狀，寫永訣之情者乎？

Essay on Parting
by Jiang Yan of southern dynasties

What’s most gloomy to the soul is the parting experience. Moreover, Qin and Wu are the remotest states. Yan and Song are a thousand miles apart. When spring moss begins to grow or autumn winds suddenly arise, travelers, therefore, will be heartbroken with all sorts of miserable emotions. Winds sough in weird sounds. Clouds spread wide with quaint colors. The boat’s at the waterside, as if frozen there. The coach’s at the hillside, as if hindered on the long journey. As the oar’s deliberately rowed, how can the boat go fast? The horses neigh in cold ceaselessly. Cover up golden goblets; who cares for drink now? Put aside the zither; tears wet the front bar on the coach. Households at home lie in sorrow as if at a loss. Sunlight on the wall moves downward with its color sinking. Moonlight on the pavilion moves up with its brilliance reflected. When seeing red orchid bearing dews and perceiving green Chinese catalpa covered with frost, when walking round the high house shutting up emptiness and touching silk drapery feeling so cold, one can know the traveling person should be wandering even in the dream and can guess his parting soul should be hovering afar. Therefore, the feeling of parting is the same, but conditions are of thousands.

Having tall horses with silvery saddles and crimson coaches with carved axis ready, the host and the guest drink for parting in the tent outside east capital as if bidding the guest farewell in JinGu Garden1, where zithers were played in a gloomy tune, fifes and drums on display, and heartbreaking songs of Yan and Zhao saddened beauties around, where pearls and jade gleam colorfully in late autumn and gauze and brocade show splendor in early spring, where horses alarmed by loud music raise their heads in chewing fodder and fishes with ruddy scales jumped high from deep creeks, and where tears were shed when parting and hearts broken when thinking of solitary journey.

There are swordsmen ashamed of not repaying those for their kindness and young knights intending to return favors as in events happening in Han Kingdom2, in the lavatory of Zhao Kingdom3, in the palace of Wu Kingdom4 and in the marketplace of Yan Kingdom5. They either deserted their loved ones, or left their own countries, or shed tears in final farewell, or wiped bloody eyes staring at each other. They rode away at full gallop without looking back, only rising dusts seen in the wake. They wanted to repay favors using swords without intention of going to the nether world for any price in exchange. But when bells and drums boomed, the color on the face changed6. The heart stopped beating at the death of her own flesh and blood7.

If there is no peace on the border, people join army bringing bows and arrows. The Liao River is unlimited and Mount Yanmen towers into clouds. When the wind into the bower feels warm and the grass in fields smells sweet, when the sun rises in the sky so radiant and dews on the ground glitter with multi-tinge, when scarlet dusts mirror a brilliant tint and green mists look hazy and smoky, and just as hands are raised to hold branches of peach and plum trees, parting is very much unbearable, especially with a beloved one, tears wetting the gauze skirt.

As for departure for the remotest states, how can reunion be possible? Looking at tall trees in homeland and saying the eternal goodbye on the northern bridge, people around the parting person have their souls touched by distress, and friends and relatives weep bitter tears. They can arrange boughs on the ground to sit imparting their regret and show their sorrow by drinking wine. Just on the day when wild geese in autumn fly south and when white frost fall on earth, the parting person grieves and groans at zigzag spots among distant hills and proceeds on and on alongside the long river.

If you live to the west of Ming River and my home is located in Heyang, we bask in morning sun rays with jade on our dress and sit together round an evening brass incense burner. When you go a thousand miles away with a tied ribbon8, it’s pitiable for a fair herb to beget scent in vain9. I feel ashamed facing the zither in my quiet boudoir10 and let the yellow silk curtain darken the high tower11. Spring palace shuts out green color of moss; autumn canopy’s steeped in moonlight; summer bamboo mat’s so cool and the day turns to dusk too slow; the flame in winter lamp is like staying congealed12 and the night is so long. Weaving my song into a silky letter exhausts my tears in sobbing and writing a rondeau poem makes my lone self miserable13.

If there’s a Taoist on Mount Hua, who takes the elixir of life, he becomes an immortal. His talent is great, but he still studies. His art reaches a great stage, but not yet to the utmost. He keeps busy in making divine pills and ignores everything else. He’s firm in determination to finish them in a brass cauldron. Then he rides on a stork into clouds or astride a phoenix to heaven. He can travel a myriad miles in a short time and has a brief separation as if a thousand years elapsed in the human world. Since mortals look upon parting seriously, he takes leave of the host14 lingeringly.

Under heaven there’s a poem of Chinese herbaceous peony15 and a song of a beauty16. There are girls in Sangzhong of Wei State and damsels in Shanggong of Chen State17. When spring grass turns verdant and spring water ripples green, how can the anguish be endurable as seeing you off at Nanpu? When autumn dew looks like pearl and autumn moon like a round jade, when the moon is bright and dew is white, and when time comes and goes, I’m thinking of you again and again after separation from you.

Therefore, people involving in parting are of various sorts, and situations and reasons for parting are greatly different. If there’s separation, there will be regret, full of regret, which makes people’s will lost, spirit terrified, heart agonized and bone tormented. Even if there are superior articles of Yuan and Yun18, and excellent writings of Yan and Le19, or even if there are men of letters in JinGui20 and men of talent in Lantai21, and even if there is the best essay like Lingyun22 or best repartee like in Diaolong23, who has the ability of describing the current conditions of separation or depicting the feelings of eternal parting?