鱼玄机·《送别二首》英译

秦楼几夜惬心期，不料仙郎有别离。

睡觉莫言云去处，残灯一盏野蛾飞。

水柔逐器知难定，云出无心肯再归。

惆怅春风楚江暮，鸳鸯一只失群飞。

Two Verses on Parting

Yu Xuanji

1

These nights in our chamber of

love fulfilled your expectations;

hardly did I count

on you, my lover, parting.

Dozing off, I cannot tell

where the clouds have gone;

the moths of the wilds are flitting

‘round the guttering lamp.

2.

Water adapts unresisting

to the shape of the vessel it’s in;

obviously a definite form

cannot be fixed for good.

Once the clouds have gone,

they have no mind to return.

Wistful in the springtime breeze

over the river of an eve,

a mandarin duck without its flock

flies away alone.

（Bannie Chow, Thomas Cleary 译）