is like a spring gale, come up in the night, blowing open the petals of ten thousand pear trees.
Cen Can's a Song of White Snow in Farewell to Field-Clerk Wu Going Home in the Tang Dynasty
explains: It seems that the spring breeze blows overnight, and the trees are like pear blossoms.
Appreciation: This sentence describes the wonderful snow scene you saw in the morning and the sudden cold you felt. The colors are magnificent and romantic, the momentum is magnificent and the artistic conception is distinct and unique.
the original
Cen Can's a Song of White Snow in Farewell to Field-Clerk Wu Going Home
the north wind rolls the white grasses and breaks them, and the Eighth-month snow across the Tartar sky.
is like a spring gale, come up in the night, blowing open the petals of ten thousand pear trees.
it enters the pearl blinds, it wets the silk curtains, a fur coat feels cold, a cotton mat flimsy.
bows become rigid, can hardly be drawn, it's hard to protect your iron clothes. (Difficult task: still writing)
the sand-sea deepens with fathomless ice, the gloomy clouds are bleak and Wan Li is condensed.
but we drink to our guest bound home from camp, and play him barbarian lutes, guitars, harps.
till at dusk, when the drifts are crushing our tents, and our frozen red flags cannot flutter in the wind.
we watch him through Wheel-Tower Gate going eastward, into the snow-mounds of Heaven-Peak Road.
and then he disappears at the turn of the pass, leaving behind him only hoof-prints.
Translation and Notes
Translation
The north wind swept across the earth and broke the white grass, and heavy snow fell in the sky in northern Saibei in August.
It seems that the spring breeze blows overnight, and the trees are like pear blossoms.
Snowflakes fly into the bead curtain and wet the curtain, so it's too thin to cover the fox fur without warmth.
General, the soldiers are too cold to draw their bows and put on their armor.
The boundless desert is covered with thick ice, and the sky in Wan Li is filled with gloomy clouds.
wine is placed in the commander's account as a farewell party for returning guests, and the Huqin, Pipa and Qiangdi are played together to entertain.
In the evening, the heavy snow kept falling in front of Yuanmen, and the red flag froze and the wind could not pull it.
See you off to Beijing outside the east gate of Luntai. When you go, Tianshan Road is covered with snow.
You have disappeared from the winding mountain road, leaving only a line of horseshoe marks on the snow.
Note
Judge Wu: The name is unknown. Judge, official name. Ambassadors sent by the imperial court, such as our envoy in the Tang Dynasty, can appoint aides to assist in judging official affairs, and they are called judges, which are subordinates of our envoy and observation envoy.
white grass: the name of pasture in the western regions, which turns white in autumn.
Hu Tian: refers to the sky in the north of Saibei. Hu, the general name of the ancient Han nationality for the northern nationalities.
pear: it blooms in spring and the flowers are white. The metaphor here is that snowflakes accumulate on branches, like pear blossoms.
bead curtain: a curtain made of pearls or decorated with pearls. Describe the beauty of the curtain Luomu: A tent made of silk. Describe the beauty of the tabernacle. Snowflakes fly into the bead curtain and wet the curtain. "Pearl curtain" and "Luo curtain" all belong to beautification.
fox fur (qiú): a fox fur robe.
brocade quilt (q Ρ n): a quilt made of brocade.
brocade quilt is thin (bó): the silk quilt (because of the cold) looks thin. Describe the cold weather.
Angle bow: a hard bow with horns at both ends, and one is a "carved bow". Uncontrollable: (It's too cold to freeze) Can't open (the bow). Control: pull open.
du (dū) Hu: the chief officer guarding the border town is a general term, which is intertextual with the "general" mentioned above.
iron clothes: armor.
difficult (zhuó): one is "still writing". Writing: also writing "writing".
Han sea: desert. Dry: criss-crossing appearance.
baizhang: one is "baizhang" and the other is "thousands of feet".
bleak: dim and dull.
Zhongjun: it is called the commander or the headquarters. In ancient times, the army was divided into three armies: the central, the left and the right, and the central army was the camp of the commander in chief.
returning guests after drinking: those who return to Beijing after feasting refer to military judges. Drink, verb, feast.
Huqin pipa and Qiang (qiāng) flute: Huqin and others were musical instruments of the brotherly peoples in the western regions at that time.
Qiang flute: a wind instrument of the Qiang nationality.
Yuanmen: the gate of the military camp. The ancient army camped, surrounded by cars, and the shafts of two cars stood opposite each other at the entrance and exit, like doors. This refers to the outer door of Shuai yamen.
wind switch (chè): the red flag is frozen due to snow, and the wind can't blow. Switch: pull, pull.
frozen: the flag is blown in one direction by the wind, giving people the feeling of freezing.
Luntai: Luntai in Tang Dynasty is located in Miquan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and it is not the same place as Luntai in Han Dynasty.
full: full. Adjectives are used flexibly as verbs.
the mountain turns around: the mountain turns around and the road twists and turns.