李白·《清溪行》英译

清溪清我心，水色异诸水。

借问新安江，见底何如此？

人行明镜中，鸟度屏风里。

向晚猩猩啼，空悲远游子。

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Ballad of the Ching Rivers¹

Li Pai

 

These rives so clear that they

cleanse my heart to stare into

them, so different are they from

other river waters; I asked this

Hsinan River why it was so clean?

If you see a man walking on its

banks, in the distance it seems

that he is crossing a gleaming

mirror; if a bird flies over, it

is as if it is above some brilliant

painted screen; but yet at evening

cranes call, voicing the melancholy

of travelers.

 

1. Tributaries of the Hsinan River coming down from Anhwei to Chekiang were called the Ching Rivers—a general term.

 

（Rewi Alley 译）

 

Song of the Clear Stream¹

Li Bai

 

The Clear Stream clears my heart;

Its water flows apart.

I ask the River New,

“Why transparent are you?”

On mirror bright boats hie;

Between the screens birds fly.

At dusk the monkeys cry;

In vain the wayfarers sigh.

 

1. This poem describes the scenery on the Clear Stream and the poet’s feeling on leaving it.

 

（许渊冲 译）