杜甫·《登岳阳楼》英译

On Yueyang Tower

Du Fu

Long I’ve heard of Dongting Lake,

And now I’m on Yueyang Tower.

Breaking the land in two,

Pushing Wu¹ to the east

And Chu² to the south,

The great lake holds sun and moon

Floating day and night.

Not a word from relatives and friends,

What I have is a boat,

With age and illness for company.

But war is going on in the north;

And gazing out, my eyes are dim with tears.

1. Wu refers to the lower riches of the Chang-jiang.

2. Chu refers to the territory including present-day Hunan Province.

（李惟建 译）

Ascending Yueyang Tower¹

Du Fu

Th’ expanse of Dongting’s waters² long I’ve heard;

Today I ascend the Yueyang Tower to command.

The states Chu and Wu were here south-easterly split;

All heaven and earth by day and night seem its strand.

My kith and kin a single word send me not;

I feel both aged and ill on this sole boat.

Our border legions line up north of the Pass Mount³;

By the tower window, my tears stream forth as by rote.

1. The three-storied Yueyang Tower is a structure over the western gate of Yueyang’s city wall overlooking the Dongting Lake. It was built by the poet Zhang Yue of Tang when he was demoted from his original high post as the Imperial Secretary, Duke of Yan, in the central government and banished to Yueyang as its governor.

2. Dongting Lake was anciently known as the Xiang Stream. In the Classic of Streams, the waters of Dongting Lake are described to be over 500 li in girth and the sun and moon seem to rise from and fall from it.

3. It is said that “In the third year of the Da-li Period of Dai-zong’s reign, Guo Ziyi commanding an army 50,000 strong stationed at Fengtian to guard against Tu-fan, and his generals Bai Yuanguang and Li Baoyu led divisions to attack the foe.

（孙大雨 译）