Original poem:
In the autumn night, the south lake is clear of water and smoke. How can you ride the sky?
Let Dongting Lake enjoy some moonlight on credit and enjoy the moon and drink happily.
Translation:
In the autumn night, the water surface of Nanhu Lake is clear and smokeless (can't help but give birth to the idea of "going to heaven" independently), but how can it ride a stream to heaven? Let's give Dongting Lake a little credit for moonlight and enjoy the moon and drink happily.
The Background of Five Dongting Lake Poems (Ⅱ)
This poem was written by Li Bai, Jia Zhi and Pei Jiusan while boating in Dongting Lake. Three people went to Yuezhou (now Yueyang, Hunan) for their own reasons. In March of the second year of Gan Yuan, Tang Suzong (759), Jiujieshi was defeated by Qiushui, and there was a panic inside and outside Luoyang. Jia Zhi, then the governor of Zhongshu, went south from Ruzhou, so he was demoted to Yuezhou Sima.
It was last autumn, and I took office in Yuezhou. Jia Zhi's poem is entitled "Arriving at Baling at the First Time" (Baling is Yuezhou), and it is written about autumn scenery. It can be seen that he was banished to Yuezhou in the autumn of two years in Gan Yuan. Li Bai was implicated by Wang Yong Li Lin and exiled Yelang. In the spring of the second year of Gan Yuan, he was released from the Three Gorges in exile, and he rested in Jiangxia and Yuezhou in summer and autumn, just when he met Jia Zhi who was exiled to Yuezhou.
When Pei Jiu was appointed assistant minister of punishments, he participated in the factional struggle between the DPRK and China and was demoted to Lingnan, passing through Yuezhou. Three people in the same boat, in a foreign land, invited one to visit Dongting Lake, caring for each other. It's strong to have fun. In the meantime, each of them has his own poem, and each of them has a message poem when he goes to the future. In the history of Tang poetry, it is also a much-told story.