Shanghai Shores (A Translation)

上海灘 (黃沾）

    Shanghai Shores (James Wong) 

 

浪奔，

浪流，

萬裏滔滔江水永不休。

    They dash.

    They glide.

    Over ten thousand li rippling,

    The Yangtze water has never died.

 

淘盡了

世間事，

混作滔滔一片潮流。

    Every affair of the world it pans out and

    Into these waves it blends.

 

是喜，

是愁？

浪裏分不清歡笑悲憂。

    Am I happy, or

    Am I sad?

    There's no telling from the waves.

 

成功，

失敗。

浪裏看不出有未有。

    Did I win, or

    Did I lose?

    There's no telling from the waves.

 

愛你恨你。

問君知否？

似大江一發不收。

    I have loved and hated you.

    O If you ever know!

    It's like the Yangtze water, once let loose,

    Turning-back is impossible.

 

轉千灣，

轉千灘。

亦未平複此中爭鬥。

    It has swirled over a thousand shores.

    It has swirled over a thousand bends.

    Yet it has never soothed the very strife within.

 

又有喜，

又有愁。

就算分不出歡笑悲憂。

 

仍願翻，

百千浪。

在我心中起伏夠。

    I am happy, and

    I am sad.

    Hard as it is to tell how this feels,

    By the hundreds and thousands I'll make them still, and

    Let the waves in my bosom rise and fall.

 

[I first heard the song as a boy from the TV series of the same title and have

loved it ever since. In college, I was so jealous when a classmate from Hainan

could sing it in Cantonese. No longer. I could do it after spending the whole

day on Jan 1, 2022, listening, drilling, and translating. Like other great 

works of human imagination, the song seems to have proved its staying power.]

 

[7grizzly]

回複 '土豆-禾苗' 的評論 : 哈哈，歡迎土豆兄！太會開玩笑啦 :-)))

[土豆-禾苗]

a，ni haihui zhongwen a，dadadi lihai。

[7grizzly]

回複 '暖冬cool夏' 的評論 : Thank you, 暖冬, for liking and your thoughts.
I am very happy to have bumped into the song.
I like both the 葉麗儀 and 劉德華 versions.
(BTW, I like my own version, too, if that doesn't sound hubristic :-)))

Indeed, I agree with you about the 80s even I felt nothing different at the time.
Looking back, I am amazed at my dumb luck!

[暖冬cool夏]

Great translation!
"I have loved and hated you.
O If you ever know!"-- A question mark is converted to an exclamation mark in the translation with a desired effect.
I like the original singer 葉麗儀's version the most-- very powerful!
1980s ushers in a historic turning era, the beginning of an open China. It opened our eyes, hearts and minds, and coming along are the revivals of vibrant arts and literature!
Thanks for sharing your English translation. I like it!