The Book of Songs Caiwei and Meng Translation

"Meng" is a long lyrical poem with a narrative nature in the "Book of Songs". The work describes the unfortunate marriage life of a damaged and abandoned woman through her autobiography, reflecting typical and universal events that were common between couples in feudal society. The heroine in the poem has no place to report her sorrow, unspeakable regret and determination, which still moves us deeply when we read her.

The whole poem is divided into six chapters, with ten sentences in each chapter, all written in the heroine's self-narration tone.

The first and second chapters are about the woman reminiscing about her love and marriage. The beginning of the poem introduces the image of a man, "Chichi is a gangster, he embraces cloth and trades silk, bandits come to trade silk, and when he comes, he makes plans for me." "Meng" is a name for ordinary men. The man who "holds cloth and sells silk" in the poem seems to be a small businessman who sells silk. "Chichi" can be interpreted as "honest appearance" ("Mao Zhuan") or "Yinhou appearance" ("Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Cui Xiang Biography"). It should be noted that some current annotations believe that "meng" is a derogatory term for the man in the poem (Gu Donggao said); "Chi Chi" was changed to "Chi Chi" to interpret it as a joke (Ma Ruichen said), and the translation into a playful smile. I think this explanation is slightly inappropriate: when a "gangster" came to propose to a woman, his appearance did not give the other party the impression of frivolity or flattery. On the contrary, his slightly silly appearance gained the woman's trust. The heroine did not deny this when recalling the scene of her first love, which can be further proved below. "Sending a son to Sheqi, as for Dunqiu. The gangster made me jealous, and the son has no good matchmaker. The general has no anger, and autumn is the future." On the way to see each other off, the woman agreed to the "gangster"'s proposal and agreed on a wedding date. From her words of comfort to the man, it can be inferred that the "rascal" was eager to get married immediately, and even became angry for a while, while the woman believed his "enthusiasm". "Ride on the other side of the mountain to see the return of the Pass. When I don't see the return of the Pass, I cry. When I see the return of the Pass, I laugh and talk." The mood of the woman in love expressed in the poem is obvious. The heroine often She climbed the wall infatuatedly and stood looking into the distance. She was anxiously looking forward to meeting the man and waiting for the wedding day. The word "Fuguan" here still refers to the word "Chongguan" (in Wang Xianqian's words, see "Collection of Poems of Three Schools of Poetry"), which should refer to the place where the "mog" lives. The poem here uses place names to refer to people. The "gangster" finally came, and the woman greeted him happily, "Er Bo Er Zhen, there is no blame in your body. You come with your car, and I bribe you to move." Since fortune-telling by tortoises is a good omen, the woman took her belongings and got into the man's car and went with him.

Zhu Xi called these two chapters: "Fu Ye", that is, "explaining the facts and speaking directly." The poet uses a direct narrative technique, and at the same time, we can clearly feel the heroine's deep regret in her narration. She regrets that she was addicted to love, and regretted that the marriage was simple and hasty. Chapters three and four turn lyrical, with her lamenting in a regretful tone.

"The mulberry trees have not yet fallen, but their leaves are lush. The doves are crying, and there are no mulberries to eat!" The heroine uses the lushness of the mulberry trees as a metaphor for the strong love between men and women before they get married, and uses the turtle dove's greedy eating of mulberries as a metaphor. My own self-inflicted love. In the unfortunate situation after her marriage, she keenly felt the inequality between men and women in love life. She called out to her sisters and warned them not to make the same mistakes as herself: "There is no way for a woman to complain about a woman." Delay! The delay of a scholar can still be described; the delay of a woman cannot be described!" The first sentence of the fourth chapter still uses the mulberry tree as a metaphor, "The mulberry tree has fallen, and its yellow color has fallen." The woman uses the mulberry tree as a metaphor. Withering is a metaphor for the indifference of love between husband and wife. "I have been living in poverty since I was three years old. The water in Qi is full of water, and I gradually wear clothes and curtains. Women are not happy, and scholars do not behave in their own way. Scholars are also reckless and have only two or three virtues!" After many years of marriage, life was poor, but The woman did not waver or change at all because of poverty. She could not help but rebuke the man's "misbehavior" loudly: "A scholar is also reckless, but only two or three are virtuous!" The "three years" in the poem generally refers to many years, Not a real number. There have always been two interpretations of "Qishui Tangtang, gradually driving curtains and clothes": "Mao Shi Zhengyi" is interpreted by Zheng Jian as "Although I know that you are poor, I still brave the deep water to gradually drive here, knowing that I am dedicated "To you"; another theory believes that this refers to the situation of a woman crossing the Qishui River after being abandoned. Based on the coherence of the tone of the poems before and after, we think it is more appropriate to use the first sentence. The woman complained about her poor life after marriage, thinking that she had resolutely crossed the Qishui River and had not done anything to regret the man, but he was half-hearted. So I don't feel resentful. As for whether the woman has been divorced and returned home, this can only be speculated.

In chapters three and four, whether it is the heroine’s philosophical sighs from personal painful lessons or her resentment and rebuke to her husband, they fully reflect the attitudes of women in feudal society. the lowly status and generally unequal conditions to which they are subjected.

“I am a wife at the age of three, working hard at home, working hard and sleeping hard at night, and having a good time.” The first four sentences of the fifth chapter briefly summarize her years of hard work, and she endures it without complaint. With the heavy burden placed on her by her family. But not only did her husband not be considerate of her, but he "brought what he said, and then turned violent." After achieving his goal of starting a family and possessing a woman, he began to abuse her roughly. When he returned to his parents' home, he was only laughed at by his brothers. The woman "quietly speaks and thinks about it, then bows and mourns". In the last chapter, the heroine expresses her decisive attitude in the unresolved sadness. "As we grow old together, old age makes me resentful. Qi has a bank, and Xi has a pan. At the banquet of the General Office, Yan Yan talks and laughs. Make a vow and don't think about the opposite. If you don't think about it, that's it!" Many annotations According to the sentence "The boss's banquet, talking and laughing at Yan Yan", it is inferred that this woman met the "gangster" when she was underage, but this is a guess after all. We think these sentences can also be translated like this: "Qishui has its own shore, and the sun has its own shore. Children play together, talking and laughing, and no one cares about it. A dignified man swears and swears, but unexpectedly he doesn't count! His treachery I don’t think about it anymore, just forget it!”

The whole poem shows us two distinct characters. One is the image of a despicable man, a "gangster". Although this small businessman looks very honest, he is actually an emotionless, unfaithful and selfish bad guy. He deceived the simple girl with false enthusiasm, and won the trust of the woman with lies and empty curses. For him, women were labor force and a tool to satisfy his selfish desires. Once deceived, he revealed his despicable and violent true nature. The heroine in the poem is an image of a kind and enthusiastic working woman. She is hard-working, honest, and unafraid of poverty. After marrying "Meng", she sincerely pins her hope of happiness on "Meng". However, her husband's increasing cruelty and bullying to her after marriage completely shattered her wish to "grow old together". Her patience and injustice turned to resentment, and she finally let out a cry of pain. The poem reveals more of her resentment than sadness. Let us see the oppression and bullying suffered by women in feudal society.

From a structural point of view, the whole poem can be divided into three parts. The first part includes the first three chapters, which mainly express the feeling of returning home; the second part includes the fourth and fifth chapters, which mainly describe the prosperity of the generals' carriages and horses and the hard work of the garrison; the third part, the last chapter, describes the scene of the return journey. . The whole poem begins with "Plucking Wei" and ends with "The road is delayed, thirsty and hungry", the beginning and the end are echoed, highlighting the physical and mental pain suffered by the soldiers, and the writing is always lingering with a strong sentiment of sadness and resentment.

The three chapters in the first part adopt the form of repeated chapters and repeated sentences to repeatedly express the miserable mood of the garrison soldiers who have been far away from home and have not returned for a long time. The first sentences of these three chapters are all "picking Wei and picking Wei", which leads to the following. "Paiwei" means collecting wild weeds. As food and grass were not available, the soldiers had to eat them to satisfy their hunger. The beginning of the poem shows readers a desolate picture of life on the border. We seem to see hungry-looking soldiers collecting wild vegetables on the slopes of the wilderness, missing their hometown after a long absence, and counting the days before returning home. Date... It is worth noting that although these three chapters use repeated forms to express the same emotion, the author slightly changes the words to show the progression of the emotion. For example, the first two sentences of the first chapter read: "Picking weeds and picking weeds, and the weeds have stopped." This is about spring, when weeds have just sprouted tender green bud tips; the second chapter reads: "Picking weeds and picking weeds, "The weeds have stopped softly", which is about summer, when the leaves of weeds are fat and tender; the third chapter is: "picking weeds, picking weeds, they are just stopping", which is about autumn, when the leaves and stems of weeds will be old and thick. hard. From spring to autumn, weicai grow from young to old, and time passes ruthlessly; the garrison soldiers think about returning, from spring to autumn, the year is almost over, when can they return home? ——These connotations are expressed through the changes of Wei Cai.

Furthermore, when the last six sentences of each chapter specifically describe the feeling of missing home, the expression form also changes. For example, the author in the first chapter only said that at the end of the year, he would not be able to return home; and complained: "It's because of the 狁 that he is spending too much money on his house and home; it's because of the 狁 that he doesn't want to live alone." It was the 狁 that made it difficult for him to return home. And the second chapter says: "When it comes to returning home, my heart also stops worrying; the worry is strong, and it carries hunger and thirst." He was depressed because of homesickness, as if on fire, and felt unbearable hunger and thirst. He also thought: " My station is not certain, and it is impossible to even send a letter home."

Chapter 3: Seeing that it was already the Indian Summer in October, and there was still no hope of returning home, the garrison couldn't help but groan in pain: "I'm worried and guilty, I can't do it." He felt extremely painful, and who could relieve him? ——Obviously, as the time of guarding the border extends, the nostalgia becomes more and more profound. The author adopts this method of repeated chanting and gradually deepening, allowing readers to step into the depths of the hearts of the soldiers and experience their increasing pain of homesickness.

The second part describes the life of border guards in detail. The generals drove their chariots and horses on the road, and the garrison soldiers also embarked on a difficult journey; the generals sat in the chariots, and the soldiers gathered around the chariots, relying on them for cover when fighting. They moved north and south, moving many times a month, and did not dare to settle down; they were always on guard and did not dare to relax, because they faced extremely fierce enemies. Literally speaking, this part does not contain any sentiments about returning home, but the bitter sentiment always lingers in the poet's singing. These poor garrisonmen, when they drag their tired bodies and struggle to run behind the carriages and horses, when they rely on the carriages to avoid the enemy's flying arrows, when they are waiting for danger, how can they not miss the peace and tranquility even more? What about life!

What cannot be ignored is that the singing in this part also reveals resentment towards the unevenness of pain and joy. You see, the horses pulling the cart, "Yeye" and "Xiaoxiu", are tall and strong, which shows that they are well fed. It goes without saying that their owners are not bad at eating and drinking. However, the soldiers can barely feed themselves by collecting weeds. All the noodles are delicious and the bones are straight. The general is sitting in the car, wearing bright clothes and looking very impressive; while the soldiers are trekking behind the car all day long, their faces covered with dust and their clothes torn... Although the author here only describes the majesty of the general's riding and the gorgeous clothes, but There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone. For example, the first four sentences of Chapter 4: "Where is Belvi? The flower of Wei Chang. Where is Belus? The gentleman's chariot." Translated into modern language, it is: "What flowers bloom prosperously? They are all Tangdi's Flower; what kind of tall and big car is it? It’s not a nobleman’s car” (see Mr. Yu Guanying’s “Selected Poems”), the irony is obvious. These descriptions are in sharp contrast to the lives of the garrison soldiers, and arouse their homesickness.

The third part is the most lyrical chapter in the whole poem. On a rainy and snowy day, the garrison soldiers finally made their way home. This is originally an exciting thing, but we can't see any joy here, only sadness. The long life of guarding the border left insurmountable mental trauma in the heart of the guard. He went to his hometown with a broken heart. He thought sadly: "In the past, I left, and the willows lingered" - when I left my hometown, it was spring, and the willow silk was blowing; but today, "Today I come to think about it, the rain and snow are falling" - today I return to When I returned to my hometown, it was a misty winter with rain and snow. Here, the poet did not directly express his inner feelings, but used the willow silk blowing in the wind in spring to exaggerate the feeling of resignation when he was on the road in the past, and used the falling rain and snow to express the difficulty of the journey home today and the inner sorrow, making that A lingering, profound and erratic emotion flows naturally from the scenery, with profound implications and endless taste. These four lines of poetry are praised by later generations as the best lines in the Book of Songs.

"The road is delayed, and the thirst and hunger are carried", this is the situation of the garrison soldiers on their way back. The journey was so long and it seemed that it would never end. He endured thirst and hunger and struggled towards his hometown. On this difficult return journey, the garrison soldier learned from the pain and recalled all the experiences he had experienced after leaving his hometown. He silently sucked the pain in his heart and experienced his loneliness. He sang painfully: "My heart is sad, but I don't know how sad I am!" "——I feel very miserable, who knows!

After reading the whole poem, we seem to see this physically and mentally haggard garrison walking slowly along the muddy path in the rain and snow. Deep in the picture, heading towards the distance where the rain and snow are thick. We are left with only a lonely figure and a sigh of resentment.