Cicada
[?Tang?]?Yu Shinan
Original text?Translation comparison
The hanging 猌 drinks the clear dew, and the sound flows out. Tung.
It is not to borrow the autumn wind to speak loudly and from a distance.
Translation
The cicada lowered its tassel-like tentacles to suck the clear and sweet dew, and the sound came from the tall and sparse sycamore branches.
The sound of cicadas spreads far and wide because they live in high trees rather than relying on the autumn wind.
Notes
① Ruí: the hanging part of the hat tassel tied under the chin by the ancients, and the tentacles extending from the head of the cicada, the shape is somewhat similar to it.
②Qinglu: pure dew. The ancients thought that cicadas lived by drinking dew, but they actually sucked the sap of plants.
③Liu Xiang: refers to the continuous chirping of cicadas.
④Sparse: open and sparse.
⑤ Borrow: rely on.
This is a poem that chants things. There is a lot of sustenance in the chanting of things, and it is rich in symbolism. Each sentence describes the shape, habits and sound of the cicada, while each sentence also hints at the poet's noble and noble conduct and aspirations. The objects and I explain each other. The deeper meaning of chanting things is to chant people. The key to the poem is to grasp some unique and specific characteristics of the cicada and find an artistic fit.
The first sentence is "Hanging down the 緌 to drink clear dew". "緌" is the hanging part of the hatband tied under the chin by the ancients. The head of the cicada has outstretched tentacles, shaped like a drooping crown tassel, so Say "Cui Qi". The ancients believed that cicadas are noble in nature and drink dew when they live high, so they say "drink clear dew". On the surface, this sentence describes the shape and feeding habits of cicadas, but in fact it contains symbolic symbols everywhere. "Cui Qi" implies showing official status (in ancient times, "Guan Ying" was often used to refer to noble officials). In the minds of ordinary people, this noble status is contradictory or even incompatible with "Qing", but in the author's writing, they are unified in the image of "hanging down to drink clear dew". This unification of "noble" and "qing" is precisely the reason why "qing" in the three or four sentences does not need to rely on "noble", and the writing style is quite clever.
The second sentence "The sound of flowing out of the sparse tung trees" describes the distant sound of the cicada. Wutong is a tall tree, with the word "sparse" on it, and its branches are tall and straight, which corresponds to the "autumn wind" in the last sentence. The cicada's long chirping sound in the shape of "flowing sound" is pleasant to the ear. The word "out" visualizes the conveying mood of the cicada's sound, as if it makes people feel the loudness and intensity of the cicada's sound. Although this sentence is written only in voice, readers can imagine the high-standard elegance of Tsinghua University as the personified cicada. With this vivid description of the far-reaching sound of cicadas, the talents of the three or four sentences are fully realized.
"To speak loudly and stay far away is not to borrow the autumn wind." This is the finishing touch of the whole article. It is a poetic discussion based on the previous two sentences. Most people often think that the sound of cicadas is carried far away by the autumn wind, but the poet has a different understanding, emphasizing that it is because "living high" can reach far distances. This unique feeling contains a truth: a person with a noble character does not need some external support (such as a powerful position, the help of powerful people) to become famous far and wide, just as Cao Pi said in "Classical Essays" "It is said in "The words of a good history are not fake, and the reputation is not passed down by itself." What is highlighted here is the beauty of personality and the power of personality. The words "自" and "Fei" in the two sentences are positive and negative, echoing each other, expressing enthusiastic praise and high confidence in people's inner character, and showing a graceful and unhurried demeanor.