浣溪沙
毛文锡
七夕年年信不违，
银河清浅白云微，
蟾光鹊影伯劳飞。
每恨蟪蛄怜婺女，
几回娇妒下鸳机，
今宵嘉会两依依。
A Lyric to the Tune of Huanxisha
(Silk Washing)
Mao Wenxi
Year after year on the Seventh Night, they vow to meet
On the clear and swallow Milky Way in a wisp of cloud.
Across the Magpie Bridge in the bright moonlight shrikes fleet.
I can’t hear cicadas’ pity on the Maid by crying loud;
She’s moved with envy that several times she’s stopped the stitch.
Tonight, on the wonderful meet, their hearts beat each to each.
（谢艳明 译）
“Sand of Silk-Washing Stream” (Huan-ch’i sha), Two Lyrics
Mao Wen-hsi
2
Each year on the seventh night, they are always true.1
The bright Milky Way runs shallow in a wisp of cloud.
In the moonlight a shrike flies by the Magpie Bridge.
I hate the fleeting cicada and pity the Waiting-Maid.2
I am touched with envy as I sit and work at the loom.
Limitless love will fill their meeting on this night.
Notes:
- The seventh night of the seventh month is the night when the Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden cross the Milky Way and come together.
2. The “fleeting cicada” is the hui-ku, described in the Chuang-tzu, “The morning mushroom knows nothing of twilight and dawn; the summer cicada knows nothing of spring and autumn. They are short-lived.”
The “Waiting Maid” is a star in the constellation Aquarius, north of the Weaving Maiden star.
（Lois Fusek 译）
