鱼玄机·《寓言》英译

红桃处处春色，碧柳家家月明。

楼上新妆待夜，闺中独坐含情。

芙蓉月下鱼戏，螮蝀天边雀声。

人世悲欢一梦，如何得作双成。

An Allegory  

Yu Xuanji

Red peaches everywhere don their spring colors,

Green willows by each house are bright with moonlight.

In the tower, freshly made-up, I await the night,

In my chamber I sit alone, burdened with emotions.

Fish sport beneath the lotus flowers,

Sparrows call out beside the distant rainbow.

In the mortal world sorrow and happiness are equally a dream,

So how can I become an immortal like Shuangcheng? ¹

1. Shuangcheng was a maidservant of the immortal Queen Mother of the West.

（Jennifer Carpenter 译）

An Allegory

Yu Xuanji

Rosy peaches everywhere

presenting the colors of spring,

on emerald willows at every house

the moonlight glow is agleam.

Freshly groomed she awaits upstairs

the coming of the night;

in the bedroom, sitting alone

she keeps her feeling inside.

Fishes frolic under the leaves

of the lotus flowers;

the twittering of sparrow calls

on the rainbow’d horizon.

Human life is but a dream,

a dream of joy and sorrow;

how can one be able to join

the company of immortals?

（Bannie Chow, Thomas Cleary 译）