I may be in Japan but that doesn't mean my Mandarin lessons have stopped! Through the wonder of Skype I've had lessons from non-Mandarin-speaking Hong Kong, Macau and now the Land of the Rising Sun! Today my teacher, who knows I like poetry, brought me two famous Tang dynasty poems. She says everyone in China learns them by heart, the first in elementary school, the rather darker one in high school. Here's the first one, by 李白 Li Bai (whom we've met before).
望庐山瀑布
日照香炉生紫烟，
遥看瀑布挂前川。
飞流直下三千尺，
疑是银河落九天。
My teacher let me puzzle my way through it - I know most of the words, it turns out, and there were notes to abbreviated place names, etc. Each line opened up like a delicious walnut. With her help, here's what it seems to me to say:
Not a great translation by any means, but a start! Only just checked online for proper translations, and there are all sorts. Here's Burton Watson's:
望庐山瀑布
日照香炉生紫烟，
遥看瀑布挂前川。
飞流直下三千尺，
疑是银河落九天。
My teacher let me puzzle my way through it - I know most of the words, it turns out, and there were notes to abbreviated place names, etc. Each line opened up like a delicious walnut. With her help, here's what it seems to me to say:
Seeing a waterfall from Mount Lu
On Xianglu's sunlit peak rises purple smoke
In the distance I see a waterfall hanging down toward Shan River
Flying-flowing straight down three thousand zhi (1 km)
Could it be the Milky Way falling from highest heaven
Not a great translation by any means, but a start! Only just checked online for proper translations, and there are all sorts. Here's Burton Watson's:
Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu
Sunlight streaming on Incense Stone kindles violet smoke;
far off I watch the waterfall plunge to the long river,
flying waters descending straight three thousand feet,
till I think the Milky Way has tumbled from the ninth height of Heaven
far off I watch the waterfall plunge to the long river,
flying waters descending straight three thousand feet,
till I think the Milky Way has tumbled from the ninth height of Heaven
