中秋快乐！学习一下苏轼《水调歌头》英译（19种版本）
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水调歌头
苏轼
丙辰中秋，欢饮达旦，大醉，作此篇，兼怀子由。
明月几时有？
把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，
今夕是何年。
我欲乘风归去，
又恐琼楼玉宇，
高处不胜寒。
起舞弄清影，
何似在人间。
转朱阁，
低绮户，
照无眠。
不应有恨，
何事长向别时圆？
人有悲欢离合，
月有阴晴圆缺，
此事古难全。
但愿人长久，
千里共婵娟。
Prelude to Water Melody
Su Shi
How long will the full moon appear?
Wine cup in hand, I ask the sky.
I do not know what time of the year
’T would be tonight in the palace on high.
Riding the wind, there I would fly,
Yet I’m afraid the crystalline palace would be
Too high and cold for me.
I rise and dance, with my shadow I play.
On high as on earth, would it be as gay?
The moon goes round the mansions red
Through gauze-draped window to shed
Her light upon the sleepless bed.
Against man she should have no spite.
Why then when people part, is she oft full and bright?
Men have sorrow and joy; they part or meet again;
The moon is bright or dim and she may wax or wane.
There has been nothing perfect since the olden days.
So let us wish that man
Will live long as he can!
Though miles apart, we’ll share the beauty she displays.
（许渊冲 译）
To “Water Song”
Su Shi
At the Mid-Autumn Festival in the year Bing-chen (1076) I enjoyed myself by drinking until dawn and became very drunk. I wrote this poem, thinking of Ziyou.
Bright moon, when wast thou made?
Holding my cup, I ask of the blue sky.
I know not in heaven’s palaces
What year it is this night.
I long to ride the wind and return;
Yet fear that marble towers and jade houses,
So high, are over-cold.
I rise and dance and sport with limpid shades;
Better far to be among mankind.
Around the vermillion chamber,
Down in the silken windows,
She shines on the sleepless,
Surely with no ill-will.
Why then is the time of parting always at full moon?
Man has grief and joy, parting and reunion;
The moon has foul weather and fair, waxing and waning.
In this since ever there has been no perfection.
All I can wish is that we may have long life,
That a thousand miles apart we may share her beauty.
（Robert Kotewell & Norman Smith 译）
Tune: “Prelude to Water Music”
Su Shi
On mid-autumn night of the yea bing-chen (1076), I drank merrily until dawn, got very drunk and wrote this poem, all the while thinking longingly of Ziyou.
Bright moon, when did you appear?
Lifting my wine, I question the blue sky.
Tonight in the palaces and halls of heaven
what year is it, I wonder?
I would like to ride the wind, make my home there,
only I fear in porphyry towers, under jade eaves,
in those high places the cold would be more than I could bear.
So I rise and dance and play with your pure beams,
though this human world – how can it compare with yours?
Circling my red chamber,
low in the curtained door,
you light my sleeplessness.
Surely you bear us no ill will –
why must you be so round at times when we humans are parted?
People have their griefs and joys, their joining and separations,
the moon its dark and clear times, its roundings and wanings.
As ever in such matters, things are hardly the way we wish.
I only hope we may have long long lives,
may share the moon’s beauty, though a thousand miles apart.
（Burton Watson 译）
Mid-Autumn Festival – To the tune of Shuidiaogetou
Su Shi
Mid-Autumn Festival. I drank in jubilation from evening till dawn. Intoxicated by wine, I wrote this piece, and thought of Ziyou, my brother, as well.
How often can we have
such a glorious moon?
Raising my goblet, I put
the question to Heaven.
Which year is it tonight,
in your celestial palaces?
I wish to ride the wind, and
return there, if not deterred
By the unbearable cold that must
prevail at that precarious height.
Aloof there, one could dance
but with a lonely shadow;
So why not
stay on this Earth?
Hovering round my chamber,
Sidling through my window,
a witness to my sleepless night.
You must bear no grudge,
but why should you turn so full
Every time when somebody’s away?
This is, anyway, an eternal flaw –
an uncertain world
under an inconstant moon.
Nonetheless, may all of us remain
long in this world, and share
The immortal moon even though
thousands of miles apart!
（朱纯深 译）
After Drinking All Night at the Bingchen Autumn Festival
(To the tune of Shuidiaogetou)
Su Shi
When was the moon ever so bright? I ask the blue-black empyrean.
What year is it in Heaven? What year this evening?
Would that I could be taken there on the wind!
But I fear the cold riches of the jade moon’s mansions,
So instead I’ll dance a satire to my shadow, like nothing on earth.
The moon alters my red pavilion, threads through the silk door, keeps me awake;
Give up hating realities, my brother, the moon grows fuller and brighter as we feel losses.
What else is it but sorrows, joys, partings and reunions,
As the moon is clouded or brilliant, empty or brimming.
The arrangement is ancient, hardest to those seeking perfection.
Now and always, peace to our hearts, sharing the same far-away Goddess in the One Heaven.
（戈登·奥赛茵、闵晓红、黄海鹏 译）
Shui Diao Ge Tou
Su Shi
Autumn Festival of Bin Chen, a drinking spree till dawn in its honor, got drunk and composed this work, also by way of remembering Ziyou
When will the next full moon be?
Wine in hand, I ask the sky.
What year is tonight
In the palaces in Blue Heaven?
I would hitch a ride and return,
But for the chill high up there
In the marble towers and jade mansions.
So I start dancing, playing with my own shadows;
Not at all like being in the human world.
Turning round the red pavilion,
And leveling with the window,
The moon shines upon my sleeplessness.
Grudge should not be the case here,
But why does the moon always wax full
When we’re apart.
No human is free of sorrows or joys, partings or reunions,
Nor is the moon of shade and light or wax and wane.
Nothing’s perfect since ancient times;
But I would rather man live long
And, however far apart they are,
Share the beauty of Goddess Moon.
（任治稷 译）
Mid-Autumn Festival
(Tune: Prelude to Water Melody)
Su Tung-p’o
How long shall we have the bright moon?
Winecup raised, I ask the blue sky.
I wonder what year it is tonight
In heaven’s palace up high.
I would like to ride on the wind home,
But fear the crystal halls and jade dome
May be too high and cold to vie.
To dance with one’s own shadow light
Liking not in men’s world hereby.
Round the red mansions,
Through the gauzed windows,
On the sleepless guy,
The moon should have no spite;
Then she’s apt to be full when men part, why?
Men have woes or joys, part or unite;
Moon may wane or wax, be dim or bright.
None has been perfect all the way.
Just wish we will live long and share
Her beauty, though we’re miles away.
（施颖洲 译）
Mid-Autumn Festival Night
(To the Tune of Shuidiaogetou)
Su Shi
At the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Year of Bingchen (1076), I drank heartily till dawn, when I wrote the poem, thinking of my brother Ziyou.
When does such a bright moon appear?
Raising the cup, I ask the blues skies.
What year is this year
high in the Celestial Palace?
O I would like to go back, riding the wind,
only it could be so chilly there,
in the jade and crystal tower.
Incomparable to dancing here
in the human world, playing
with my shadow in the moonlight.
Moving around the vermilion mansion,
coming through the carved window,
the moon shines on the sleepless.
No cause for it to be
so spiteful as to choose
to appear full, bright,
when we stay in separation?
As people have sorrows and joys,
meeting or parting,
as the moon waxes and wanes
in clear or cloudy skies,
things may never be perfect.
May we all live long, sharing
the same fair moon,
though thousands of miles apart.
（裘小龙 译）
Shui Diao Ge Tou
Su Shi
“When shall we have a bright moon?”
Holding up a wine cup I queried the Blue Heaven:
“Tell me, in the celestial palace up so high
What year in its annals is tonight.”
I’d like to ride the wind and go there
But was afraid it would be too cold up on high
In those sumptuous palaces and marble halls.
I rose to my feet and danced with my own shadow.
’Twas not too bad down here!
The moon turned round the vermilion penthouse,
Casting its beams down through the lattice windows
And shining on the sleepless.
It need not evoke sadness, you know,
But why is it always so bright when the loved one’s away?
We all have joys and sorrows, partings and reunions.
The moon, its phases of resplendence,
Waxings and wanings –
Nothing in this world is ever perfect.
I wish a long life to us all.
Then, however far apart we are
We’d still be sharing the same enchanting moonlight.
（龚景浩 译）
The Moon Festival
Shu Shi
On the Mid-Autumn Festival of the year Bingchen* I drank happily till dawn and wrote this in my cups while thinking of Ziyou
Bright moon, when was your birth?
Winecup in hand, I ask the deep blue sky;
Not knowing what year it is tonight
In those celestial palaces on high.
I long to fly back on the wind,
Yet dread those crystal towers, those courts of jade,
Freezing to death among those icy heights!
Instead I rise to dance with my pale shadow;
Better off, after all, in the world of men.
Rounding the red pavilion,
Stooping to look through gauze windows,
She shines on the sleepless.
The moon should know no sadness;
Why, then, is she always full when dear ones are parted?
For men the grief of parting, joy of reunion,
Just as the moon wanes and waxes, is bright or dim:
Always some flaw – and so it has been since of old.
My one wish for you, then, is long life
And a share in this loveliness far, far away!
（杨宪益、戴乃迭 译）
Drinking in the Mid-Autumn night, 1076
and thinking of my younger brother, Su Zhe
Su Shi
When did the moon begin to shine?
Lifting my cup I ask of Heaven.
I wonder in the heavenly palaces and castles
What season it is tonight.
I wish to go up there on the wind,
But am afraid the crystal domes and jade halls
Would be too cold on high.
So I dance with my limpid shadow
As if I were no longer on earth.
Around rich bowers,
Into sweet boudoirs,
Shining upon the sleepless.
The moon should have no regrets,
Why is she always at the full when men are separated?
Men have their woe and joy, parting and meeting;
The moon has her dimness and brightness, waxing and waning.
Never from of old has been lasting perfection.
I only wish that you and I may be ever well and hale,
That both of us may watch the fair moon, even a thousand miles apart.
（初大告 译）
Shuidiaogetou
Shu Shi
“How often comes a bright moon?”
I asked this of the blue sky.
I held up my drinking cup,
As I pled for a reply.
I wonder, this night of nights –
Is of what calendar year,
Above and beyond the clouds,
In what’s the celestial sphere.
I’d wish to ride on the wind,
To my blessed heavenly home,
With its marble halls and floors,
And its alabaster dome.
That would be magnificent.
But the cold I cannot stand.
To an earthling that I am,
It won’t be a happy land.
I prefer a cosy place,
Closer to the human heart,
As the shadow, in my dance,
Can play its intimate part.
There’s nothing in paradise,
That is of similar worth –
To living among mankind,
In this so-called mundane earth.
Soon moonlight will shift its place –
O’er the top of chambers red.
Through windows with their curtains.
To sleepless people, instead.
There shouldn’t be love or hatred –
Between mankind and the moon.
But why should it turn fully –
Upon those who’re to part soon?
The moon has weather that change,
Fine or foul; it wax and wane.
Mankind is sad at parting;
Happy at reunion again.
From the utmost ancient times,
Down to our own very days,
The imperfection of all things –
Has for ever been the case.
One can do no more than wish –
All people would keep going strong.
And though they are far apart,
They’d share moonlight well and long.
（徐忠杰 译）
To the Tune of Shuidiaogetou
Su Shi
Mid-Autumn Festival of 1076, I took a hearty drink, then went on drinking until dawn. Deadly drunk, I composed this poem to honor the occasion, and in memory of my brother, Ziyou.
How often will the bright moon appear?
Cup in hand, I speak to the blue sky.
What hour would it be, what year,
In that heavenly palace on high?
I want to ride the wind up there,
I want to return to heaven,
But I also worry; would it be too chilly
In those jade halls, jade towers?
I dance, my shadow spins:
Earth is more fun than heaven!
Going by the red rooms,
Peeping in their carved doors,
She shines on the sleepless.
We’re good friends, she and I.
Then why does she shine so round, so bright,
When we leave each other?
Sadness and joy,
Separation and reunion:
The world is no paradise
Waxing and waning,
Now clear, now cloudy,
The moon is never stable.
No, there’s no perfection
At all times in all days.
If only we could live to a green old age,
Sharing her beauty together,
Though far, far apart.
（丁祖鑫 译）
Shui Diao Ge Tou
Su Shi
At Mid-Autumn Festival, we drank till dawn. Heavily drunk, I wrote the following lines to express my thought for my brother Ziyou.
“When the moon began to be?”
Raising my glass, I ask Heaven.
In heaven I wonder what year is this.
I want to ride on the wind that heavenward carries me.
Yet I fear those jade palaces
For me be too high and cold.
Then I arise and dance in the moonshine,
Watching my shadow’s fantastic gestures:
I feel I were in heaven!
Now the moon shines aslant on the painted tower,
Now she dips low beyond the traceried door:
Her bright beams keep me awake.
I even grudge – yet why should I? –
The moon for waxing full,
When my beloved is gone.
Alas! On earth grief and mirth, part and meet
Are each other following in a cyclic chase,
Even as the moon waxes and wanes.
Yet longevity to my beloved I wish,
That though between us a thousand li lies,
The moon may ever and anon join our sight.
（黄宏荃 译）
Moon Festival
To the tune Sui Diao Ge Tou
(Tune: “Prelude to Water Melody”)
Su Shi
On the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1076, I drank with great joy till dawn and became drunk. I composed this while missing my younger brother Ziyou.
How rare the moon shines so bright?
Holding a goblet, I ask the blue sky.
What a joyful sight is it tonight,
Amid the heavenly palaces on high!
I wish to ride the wind and fly back,
Yet those jade towers and marble courts,
Amid the icy heights would be much too cold.
Instead, I try to dance and swing with my shadow.
Is there anything better than the man’s world?
Turning around the red pavilions,
Stooping to peer through the latticed windows,
The moon shines over those who can’t fall asleep.
There’s no reason for her being so hard on men.
Why is she always full when dear ones are apart?
Men know the sorrow of parting and joy of reunion,
The moon is bright or dim, she may wax or wane;
Things’ve never been perfect since ancient times.
May we enjoy a lasting peaceful life,
And share her splendor across a thousand miles!
（黄新渠 译）
Prelude to Melody of Flowing Waters
Su Shi
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival of the Year Bingchen, I went on a night-long spree, and composed this piece when tipsy, with an intention to cherish the brotherly love for Ziyou.
When did the brilliant moon come into being?
Raising my cup I ask the azure sky.
And what year’s tonight in, I wonder, in light of
The calendar of the Palace on High?
The dread that it’d be too cold in the firmament
Gives me pause – otherwise riding on the zephyr
To the crystalline palace I would fly.
And further: whom might I dance with up there but my shadow?
With this regard the fancy for celestial life seems wry.
Creeping from the other side of th’ mansion,
Through the carv’d window on the sleepless
The moon mischievously casts it light.
Why should she ironically grow full when people part,
As if upon men she were venting a spite?
Ay, but who can e’er change the course of nature?
As the moon may wax or wane and grow dim or bright,
So men thrive or decline and part or reunite.
’Tis only wish’d that we may all live in good health
And share – though far apart – the beauty of th’ minor light.
（卓振英 译）
Thinking of My Brother on the Mid-Autumn Night
Su Shi
When will there be bright moonlight?
Let me with wine ask the blue sky.
I don’t know in the celestial height what year is tonight.
I want to go with the wind to the sky,
But I fear it is too cold in the height.
Though in the moon there is song and dance,
It is not as on the world so nice.
The moon peeped into the red pavilion, the harem damask,
And into the room where I lay awake.
We should not complain and rebuke
Why the moon is not always round.
As people experience union and separation, joy and pain,
So the moon tends to wax and wane.
From ancient times this is the way.
I only wish you live long,
And let us a thousand miles away,
Share the beauty of Diana!
（张炳星 译）
Shuidiaogetou
Su Shi
Drank merrily the whole Mid-Autumn night in 1076 and got dead drunk. Thought of my brother Ziyou; hence this poem.
Su Shi
Holding my wine cup skyward, asked I,
When did the moon first shed its light?
And how do those mark the day and night
Who dwell in Heaven? Will they reply?
I think of joining them rising on the wind,
But I fear that the Jade Palace should be
Too high and too cold for a mortal like me.
No greater joy on earth one can find
Than dancing in moonbeams inclined.
Upon a chamber red,
Over silk spread,
On the sleepless abed.
Do not feel bitter
Just because every time we live apart,
The moon is brighter.
In joy people meet, in sorrow people part.
The moon waxes and wanes,
And the world imperfect remains.
Then let’s pray we both live long
Each enjoys the full moon on and on.
（陈君朴、冯修文 译）
Mid-autumn Festival: To the Tune of Prelude to Water Melody
Su Shi
On the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1076, I kept drinking with great joy till dawn and became drunk. I composed this poem, yearning for my younger brother Ziyou.
When does the full bright moon appear?
I raise my wine and ask the sky.
Tonight, I wonder, which year
It is in the Celestial Palace high.
I want go back home by riding the air,
But I’m afraid these jade towers crystalline
Would be too high, colder than I can bear.
I rise and dance with the shadow of mine;
Is it like our mortal world high up there?
Turning round the attics red,
Lowly through the latticed window,
The moon shines on the sleepless bed.
She shouldn’t have any indignation.
Why is she oft so full in our separation?
Men part and meet; they may be sad and gay;
The moon does wax and wane, being dim and bright.
Nothing’s been perfect since the olden day.
I wish we could live long, and share her light
Even when we’re a thousand miles away.
（谢艳明 译）