Lotus pond moonlight
I've been very upset recently. Tonight, when I was sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air, it suddenly occurred to me that the lotus pond I pass every day must take on a completely different look in this Yamashita. A full moon hangs high in the sky; The laughter of the children playing outside has disappeared; In the room, my wife is patting her son, trotting and humming Amin's lullaby in a daze. I shrugged my shoulders, put on my coat, quietly walked out and closed the door behind me.
There is a small cinder road along the lotus pond. It is quiet and quiet here, and no pedestrians patronize it even during the day; Now at night, it looks more lonely, in the lush, tree-lined environment around the pond. On the other side of the path, there are willows intertwined with some willows whose names I don't know. The leaves, on a moonless night, will look terrible and dark, and look very good tonight, even though the moonlight is just a thin gray veil.
I'm alone. Stroll. Hands behind your back. This universe seems to be mine now; I seem to have upgraded from an ordinary self to another world. I like a quiet and peaceful life and a busy and active life. I like being alone and being with people. Just like tonight, bathed alone in the dim moonlight. I think I am a free person, and I can think about anything or nothing freely. What one must do. In other words, during the day, it can be put to good use now. This is the beauty of being alone. At this moment, let me indulge in the colorful moonlight and the fragrance of lotus flowers.
On this winding water surface, what you see is a silky leaf, which is quite high above the water surface. Like the elegant skirts of dancers. Here and there, layers of leaves are dotted with white lotus flowers, some are in full bloom, others are in bud, like scattered pearls or tangled stars, and our beauty has just come out of the bathtub. A breeze blew, bringing fragrance, just like a faint song floating from a distant building. At this time, a faint shiver passed through the leaves and flowers, like a bolt of lightning, straight through the lotus forest. Leaves standing side by side, trembling in the waves of the pond. Below, the delicate water is covered. No one can tell its color; However, the leaves at the top are more noticeable.
The moon silently sprinkled liquid light on leaves and flowers. In the transparency of the blue mist floating in the pond, they looked as if they had just bathed in milk, or like a dream wrapped in a tulle cover. Although this is a full moon, passing through a layer of clouds, the light is not the brightest; However, this is just right for me-a deep sleep is essential, but a nap has its own flavor. Moonlight shone through the leaves and cast a dense shadow on the ground from a height, dark and chaotic, like a group of ghosts; And the images of weeping willows here and there look like paintings on leaves of wood. Moonlight is not evenly sprinkled on the pond, but has a harmonious rhythm of light and shade, just like the famous melody played by a violin.
Around the pond, far and near, there are trees. Most of them are willows. Only on one side of the path can you see two or three gaps through the dense tassels, as if they were specially prepared for the moon. At first glance, the fuzzy shapes of leaves seem to diffuse into a fog, however, against the fog, the charm of those willows can still be distinguished. There are some distant mountains above the trees, but only a vague outline. There are several lights through the branches, as listless as sleepy eyes. At present, the most active creatures here must be cicadas in trees and frogs in ponds. But the excitement is theirs. I have nothing.
Suddenly, I remembered picking lotus. It may have been a folk festival in the south.
It has a long history and was the most popular in the Six Dynasties. We can find some outlines of this activity in poems. Young girls go to pick lotus flowers and sing love songs in three sets. Needless to say, there are many people gathering besides those watching. This is a season full of vitality and romance. There is an incisive description in Ode to the Lotus written by Emperor Liang Yuan:
Therefore, those charming young people paddled their sampans, filled with tacit love, and handed each other glasses when their bird-shaped bows swayed. Their oars are entangled in swaying seaweed from time to time, and duckweed floats away when their boat is about to leave. Their slim figures, tied with plain silk, walked warily on the boat. This is the season when spring leaves and summer comes. The leaves are green and flowers are in full bloom. The girls giggle as they avoid the outstretched branches. They stuffed shirts into their trouser pockets to prevent the sampan from tilting.
This is a glimpse of those carnival scenes. This must be very attractive; But unfortunately, we have already lost this happiness.
So I remembered those lines in Xizhou Island Ballad:
Picking lotus, I am in Nanchi,/Lily, in autumn, over my head; /Bow your head and play with lotus seeds./Look, they are as fresh as underground water.
If someone is picking lilies tonight, she will know that the lilies here have reached her head; However, people will definitely miss the sight of water. So my memory finally returned to the south.
Deep in my mind, I looked up and found myself at the door of my home. I gently pushed open the door and went in. There is no sound in it. My wife has been sleeping for a long time. Beijing Tsinghua University
July, 1927
Zhu Ziqing: Lotus Pond in the Moonlight
Translation 2: The translator is unknown
I feel very uneasy in the past few days. Tonight, when I was sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air, I suddenly realized how different the lotus pond I passed every day looked under the full moon. The moon is flying higher and higher in the sky, and the childish laughter from the alley outside the wall has disappeared. My wife is patting Juner in the room and humming a lullaby to him. I slipped on a gown, went out and locked the door.
A cinder path winds along the pond. This road is inaccessible, even during the day, few people pass by, so it is quieter at night. The trees around the pond are thick and dense, and there are willows and other trees by the roadside that I can't name. On a moonless night, the track is almost terrible dark, but tonight it is very clear, although the moonlight is pale.
Walking alone on the path with my hands behind my back, I feel that the whole world belongs to me. I have stepped out of my usual self and entered another world. I like excitement and quiet. Under the full moon, I can think of anything I like or nothing, which gives me a feeling of freedom. All day work can be ignored. This is the advantage of loneliness: I can enjoy the large fragrant lotus and moonlight to my heart's content.
Looking around, the winding pool is covered with neat leaves, sticking out of the water like the open skirts of dancing girls. These layers of leaves are dotted with white lotus flowers, which are either shyly open or in bud, just like sparkling pearls, stars in the blue sky, or beautiful women who have just bathed. The breeze brought fragrance, just like a faint song from a tower in the distance. Leaves and flowers trembled slightly, and the fragrance was taken away in an instant. As the dense leaves bend, an opaque emerald can be glimpsed. It is the gentle running water below, and its color is invisible, even though the leaves look more elegant than before.
Moonlight pours on lotus leaves and lotus flowers like water, and a pale blue mist floats up from the pond, making them look like they have been washed in milk, or fall into a gauze-like dream. Although the moon is round, a layer of light clouds in the sky does not allow its light to pass through brightly; But I think all this is good-although refreshing sleep is essential, taking a nap also has its unique charm. The moon shone from behind them, and the dense trees on the mountain cast a square shadow. The black shadow loomed like a devil, and the sparse and elegant willow shadow seemed to be painted on the lotus leaf. The moonlight on the pool is uneven, but the light and shadow form a harmonious rhythm, just like a beautiful tune played on a violin.
There are trees all around the pond, mostly willows. These trees completely surrounded the pond, and the only small clearing left was the roadside clearing, which was obviously prepared for the moon. All the trees are as gloomy as smoke, but you can tell the lush willows among them, and the distant mountains loomed above the treetops-only their outlines. A street lamp or two appeared in the Woods, listless, like the eyes of a sleepy person. At this time, the most lively voices are cicadas in the trees and frogs in the pool; But this animation is their own, and I didn't participate.
Then picking lotus flowers flashed in my mind. This is an ancient custom in the south of the Yangtze River, which obviously originated very early and was the most popular in the Six Dynasties. We can see it from the songs at that time. The girls in the boat picked lotus flowers and sang touching songs as they walked. We can be sure that they came out in droves, and there were audiences, because it was a happy and romantic festival. Emperor Liang Yuan described this very well in his poem Lotus Pickers:
Clever boys and beautiful girls
Reach an understanding when rowing;
Their bows turned slowly,
But the glass passed quickly;
Their oars got tangled,
When they crossed the duckweed,
And a girl with a thin waist
Turn and stare behind you.
Now spring and summer meet,
Leaves are tender and flowers are fresh;
They protect their silk with smiles,
They pulled their skirts for fear that the boat would capsize.
There, we have a photo of these pleasant trips. It must be a pleasant thing, but unfortunately we can't enjoy it today.