《人间词话》英译（三十五）

沈伯时《乐府指迷》云：“说桃不可直说破（原无“破”字，据《花草粹编》附刊本《乐府指迷》加。），桃，须用‘红雨’、‘刘郎’等字。说柳不可直说破‘柳’，须用‘章台’、‘霸岸’等字。”若惟恐人不用代字者。果以是为工，则古今类书具在，又安用词为耶？宜其为《提要》所讥也。

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Shen Yi-fu in his Yueh-fu chih-mi [p. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />2a] said :’In speaking of peach blossoms one should not refer to them directly as peach blossoms but should rather use phrases such as “red rain”, or “Mr Liu”. In speaking of willows, one should not refer directly to willows as such but should rather use such phrases as “Chang-t’ai”, or “the banks of the Pa river”.’ It is as if his only fear were that poets would not use substitute words. But if we take this as a measure of skill, encyclopedias from ancient times to the present are all at hand, so what is the point in having tz’u attempt the job? It is quite right that his arguments should have been criticized by the T’i yao.