汪梦斗·《南乡子》英译

西北有神州。

曾倚斜阳江上楼。

目断淮南山一抹，

何由。

载泪东风洒汴流。

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何事却狂游。

直驾驴车渡白沟。

自古幽燕为绝塞，

休愁。

未是穷荒天尽头。

 

Nanxiangzi

Wang Mengdou

 

The sun, with its slanting rays, was shining still,

As I leaned, musing upon a window sill.

From a tall edifice on the River Huai,

Looking northwestward where China Proper lie.

 

I looked again. But it could not be espied.

“Could the hills afore blot out the view?” I cried.

It must have been lost and taken by the foe.

Let the wind sprinkle my tears over Bianhe (1).

 

Why should I go like mad, this way and that way—

Or by mule-cart to Baigouhe in Hebei (2)?

If not to survey the border at first hand;

To what limits is reduced our border land?

 

From ancient times, what is Shanxi (3) and Hebei—

Was considered the most out-of-the-way.

Forsooth. I can set my mind well at ease. Why?

As yet unreached are the limits of the sky!

 

(1)    Bianhe: a canal linking Xingyang and Kaifeng in Henan Province, now almost entirely deserted

(2)    Baigouhe in Hebei: a small river in Hebei Province, North China

(3)    Shanxi: a province in North China