人生若隻如初見,何事秋風悲畫扇。
等閑變卻故人心,卻道故人心易變。
驪山語罷清宵半,淚雨霖鈴終不怨。
何如薄幸錦衣郎,比翼連枝當日願。
A Verse by Nalan Rongruo (Qing Dynasty)
(To a Bosom Friend)
If life remained unchanged since our first date,
E’en in west wind, we wouldn’t share paint’d fan’s fate,
How swiftly can this sweet heart discolour?
Yet it says ‘tis prone to a fickle gait.
Mount Li heard the liege vow at night, though great,
His grief e’en Bell of Rain cannot abate.
This silk-robed wretch, faithless, still outdid thee —
Wing-to-wing, twig-to-twig, an oath of weight.
Tr. Ziyuzile
16/04/2025