Original text
Papaya ("The Book of Songs·Wei Feng·Papaya")
You give me papaya and you give me Qiongju in return. It is always good to be rewarded by bandits.
Give me peaches and give me Qiongyao in return. It is always good to be rewarded by bandits.
You gave me wood and plums, and you gave me Qiongjiu in return. It is always good to be rewarded by bandits.
Notes
1. Papaya: a deciduous shrub (or small tree) from the Rosaceae family. The fruit is oblong, yellow in color and fragrant. It is eaten after being steamed or soaked in honey. Note: The full name of papaya produced in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Taiwan and other places today is papaya. It is eaten raw and is not the same thing as the papaya here.
2. Peach: The name of the fruit is hawthorn, which is smaller than papaya.
3. Wooden plum: The name of the fruit is 楠楂楂, also known as wooden pear.
4. Qiong: red jade; also generally refers to beautiful jade.
5. Ju (jūju): jade pendant.
6. Bandits also report: (beautiful jade) cannot be considered as reward. Bandit means "fei".
7. Always think it is good: it is to seek eternal goodwill.
8. Yao: beautiful jade; a beautiful stone that looks like jade.
9. Jiu: light black jade.
Translation
You give me the papaya, and I will give you the Qiongju in return. It’s not to thank you, I cherish my affection and stay with you forever.
You give me the wooden peach, and I will give you Qiong Yao in return. It’s not to thank you, I cherish my affection and stay with you forever.
You give me the wood and plum, and I will give you the Qiongjiu in return. It’s not to thank you, I cherish my affection and stay with you forever.
Appreciation
There is a sentence in "The Book of Songs·Daya·Yu" that "throw me a peach and repay you a plum". In later generations, "throw a peach and repay a plum" became an idiom, a metaphor for giving to each other. Answer, courtesy reciprocates. In comparison, although the article "Wei Feng·Papaya" also has the idiom "Throw wood to repay Qiong" (for example, "Throw wood to repay Qiong"), which is derived from "Throw in papaya (peach, plum), repay with Qiongju (Yao, Jiu)". There is a record in Song Dynasty You Miao's "Full Tang Shihua" of "throwing wood to repay a girl, and the righteous general will be safe"), but the frequency of use of "throwing wood to repay a girl" cannot be compared with "throwing a peach to repay a plum". However, if you think that "Yi" is recited to a higher degree than "Papaya" based on this, it would be a big mistake. After a little research, you will know that "Papaya" is the most widely recited "Book of Songs" today. 》One of the famous articles.
For such a well-known pre-Qin ancient poem with uncomplicated sentences, there are actually as many as seven ways to analyze its gist throughout the ages (according to statistics from Zhang Shubo's "Collection of Guofeng"), which is really a mystery. Very interesting thing. According to the "Preface to Mao's Poems" written in the Han Dynasty, it says: ""Papaya" is also a beautiful song by Duke Huan of Qi. The Di people in Wei were defeated in Cao, and Duke Huan of Qi rescued them and sealed them, leaving behind the chariots and horses. Wei's chariots and horses were not included. People think about it and want to repay it generously, so they write poems." This statement was supported by Yan Can ("Shi Ji") and others in the Song Dynasty, and Wei Yuan ("Shi Gu Wei") and others supported it in the Qing Dynasty. According to Chen Qiaochong's "Research on the Remains of Lu Poems", the poems of the Three Families that are roughly at the same time as Mao's theory, the Lu poems "were written as tributes to the ministers", and Wang Xianqian's "Collection of Poems of the Three Families" by Wang Xianqian has the same opinion. Starting from Zhu Xi in the Song Dynasty, the theory of "men and women giving each other gifts" became popular. "Collected Poems" says: "If someone gives me a small thing, I should repay it with a big treasure, but it is not enough to repay it, but I hope it will last long. Thinking it is good will not forget it. Questioning is also a poem for men and women to answer each other, such as "Jing Nu". This reflects the innovative spirit of questioning the ancients in the Song Dynasty's "Poetry" school. However, this statement was refuted by Yao Jiheng, one of the important representatives of the independent thinking school of "Poetry" in the Qing Dynasty. "The General Theory of the Book of Songs" said: "It is also ridiculous to treat (it) as a friend to give and answer, why must it be a man or a woman!" Modern scholars generally follow Zhu Xi's theory, and more clearly point out that this poem is a love poem. To be fair, since the semantics of the poem's text are very simple, there is a greater degree of freedom in exploring its theme. Just as the smaller the connotation of a concept, the greater its denotation. Therefore, it is not easy to deny a certain family theory easily. Very desirable. In view of this, the author tends to understand this poem in a broader sense and regard it as a poem that expresses deep affection through giving and answering.
The poem "Papaya" is very distinctive in terms of its chapter and sentence structure. First of all, there is no four-character sentence, the most typical sentence pattern in the Book of Songs. It's not that you can't use a four-character sentence (for example, if you use a four-character sentence, it becomes "throw me a papaya (peach, plum), and repay Qiongju (Yao, Jiu); the bandit will repay you, and you will always think it's good", it's the same), but The author intentionally or unintentionally uses this sentence pattern to create an ups and downs charm, which is easy to achieve the effect of both voice and emotion when singing. Secondly, the sentences have a very high degree of overlap. Not to mention that the last two sentences of each chapter are exactly the same, even the first two sentences are only one word different, and although the words "Qiongju", "Qiongyao" and "Qiongjiu" have slightly different meanings, they have the same meaning, while "Papaya", "Papaya" According to the textual research of Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Prunus wood" and "Wu plum" are also plants of the same genus. The difference between them is roughly like the difference between tangerines, tangerines and oranges. In this way, we might as well say that the three chapters are basically repeated, and such a high degree of repetition is not very common in the entire "Book of Songs". The format looks like the song "Yangguan Sandie" written in the Tang Dynasty based on Wang Wei's poems, - -Of course this is determined by the duality of music and literature in The Book of Songs.
You give me fruit, and I give you beautiful jade in return. It is different from "reciprocating love". The value of what is given in return is much greater than what is received. This reflects a noble human emotion (including love). , also includes friendship). This kind of emotion is about heart-to-heart connection and spiritual agreement. Therefore, the things given back and their value actually only have a symbolic meaning here. They express the cherishment of others' affection for oneself, so it is said that " Bandits report." "You gave me papayas (peaches, plums), and I repaid you with Qiongju (Yao, Jiu)", its deep meaning should be: Although the thing you gave me was papaya (peaches, plums), your affection is really more valuable than anything else. Qiongju (Yao, Jiu); I can't repay you with Qiongju (Yao, Jiu), but I can't fully express my gratitude to you. Niu Yunzhen of the Qing Dynasty commented on these words in his "Poetic Records": "For those who benefit more than papaya, using papaya as a metaphor is a way of lowering one frame to set off; Qiong Yao is enough to repay, but saying that bandit retribution is a way of peeling off another level." His words are not unreasonable, but it is obvious that he takes the basically abstract objects such as papaya and Qiong Yao too seriously. Other interpreters of this poem seem to have the same problem. In fact, the author is so broad-minded that he no longer has the heart to weigh the thickness and weight. What he wants to express is: cherishing and understanding the affection of others is the noblest affection.
Related information
Qing Cao Rong. "Nanpu·Papaya": "Love is formed in the courtyard, and it is easy to transplant the jade porcelain sycamore to the double well. I still remember that the pistil is in its early stages, the traces of makeup are light, and the beauty is imitating the redness of Tangli. Only when the amount is cut, and the skill of hugging is felt, the clothes are cold." The fairy dew is in a ball, and the pale green is more difficult to determine. The flowers are gentle and unchanging. Who can bear the fragrant fragrance? When you wake up from a deep sleep, your delicate hands and fragrance will come out in the morning. It may also cure people's worries."
Proverb: A hundred losses of pears will bring a gain, and a hundred losses of papaya will bring a gain.
Historical story: In the Spring and Autumn Period, kings and hegemons fought for supremacy. At that time, Di State was stronger than Wei State and defeated the king of Wei State. Lord Wei fled along the Tongliang River and was rescued by Duke Huan of Qi. He was granted land and given chariots, horses, utensils, clothing, etc. The people of Wei were very grateful, so they composed a song saying, "Give me papayas, and repay me with qiongju." In fact, the king of Wei was unable to repay him at this time, but he only expressed his intention to always be on good terms with Qi. Therefore, Wei State formed an alliance with Qi State. "The Book of Songs" says about this: "Papaya is also beautiful to Duke Huan of Qi." That is to say, papaya has been passed down to Duke Huan of Qi and its reputation will last forever.