红豆词

          曹雪芹

滴不尽相思血泪抛红豆，

开不完春柳春花满画楼，

睡不稳纱窗风雨黄昏后，

忘不了新愁与旧愁，

咽不下玉粒金莼噎满喉，

照不见菱花镜里形容瘦。

展不开的眉头。

捱不明的更漏。

呀！

恰便似遮不住的青山隐隐，

流不断的流水悠悠。

 

Translated By Yang Xianyi & Dai Naidie

 

Like drops of blood fall endless tears of longing,

By painted pavilion grow willows and flowers untold;

Sleepless at night when wind and rain lash gauze windows,

She cannot forget her sorrows new and old;

Choking on rice like jade and wine like gold,

She turns from her wan reflection in the glass;

Nothing can smooth away her frown,

It seems that the long night will never pass;

Like the shadow of peaks, her grief is never gone;

Like the green stream it flows for ever on.

 

Translated By David Hawkes

 

Still weeping tears of blood about our separation:

Like red love-beans of my desolation.

Still blooming flowers I see outside my window growing.

Still awake in the dark I hear the wind a-blowing.

Still oh still I can’t forget those old hopes and fears.

Still can’t swallow food and drink, ’cos I’m choked with tears.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me it’s not true:

Do I look so thin and pale, do I look so blue?

Mirror, mirror, this long night how shall I get through?

Oh – oh – oh!

Blue as the mist upon the distant mountains,

Blue as the water in the ever-flowing fountains.