Papaya
[Author] Anonymous ? [Dynasty] Pre-Qin
Give me papaya and give me Qiongju in return. It's always good to be rewarded by a bandit!
Give me peaches and give me Qiongyao in return. It's always good to be rewarded by a bandit!
You gave me wood and plums, and you gave me Qiongjiu in return. It's always good to be rewarded by a bandit!
Tags: Gratitude, The Book of Songs, Three Hundred Ancient Poems, Emotions, Others
Translation of "Papaya"
You give me the papaya, and I give you Qiongju in return. It's not to thank you, cherish the affection and stay with me forever. Notes on "Papaya"
⑴ 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.
⑵ Qiongju (jū): beautiful jade, the same as "Qiongjiu" and "Qiongyao".
⑶ Bandit: No.
⑷Peach: The name of the fruit is hawthorn, which is smaller than papaya.
⑸Wu Li: The name of the fruit is 楠楂楂, also known as wood pear. Appreciation of "Papaya" Appreciation 1 "Jing·Daya·Yi" contains the sentence "To me a peach, repay a plum". In later generations, "throw a peach and repay a plum" became an idiom, a metaphor for mutual gift and reciprocity, and reciprocity of courtesy. In comparison, although the article "Wei Feng·Papaya" also contains the idiom "Throw wood to repay gold" (such as "throw wood to return gold") derived from "Throw in papaya (peach, plum), repay with Qiongju (Yao, Jiu)" There is a record in Song Dynasty You Miao's "The Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" of "throwing wood to repay the beauty, and the righteous general will be safe"), but the frequency of use of "throwing wood to repay the beauty" cannot be compared with "throwing the peach to repay the plum". However, "Papaya" has a higher degree of recitation. It is one of the most widely recited poems in the Book of Songs today.
For such a well-known pre-Qin ancient poem with uncomplicated sentences, there have been as many as seven interpretations of its gist throughout the ages (according to statistics from Zhang Shubo's "Collection of Guofeng"). 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 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 and a woman!" Modern scholars generally follow Zhu Xi's theory, and more clearly point out that this poem is a love poem. Therefore, there are many different interpretations of the theme of the poem, and "papaya" as a literary image has been given a variety of different symbolic meanings. Among them, three images: "subjects want to repay their loyalty to the monarch", "lovers are loyal to gold and jade", "friends give gifts lightly but love is more important" have gradually become the mainstream connotations of the "papaya" image.
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" and "Mutao" According to Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Wu Plum" is also a plant of the same genus. The difference between them is roughly like the difference between tangerines, tangerines and oranges. In this way, 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 - naturally this It is determined by the duality of music and literature in The Book of Songs.
"You give me fruit, and I give you jade in return." This is different from "reciprocating a favor". The value of the things returned is much greater than the things received. This reflects a noble human emotion ( Including love and 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 in return you gave me Qiongju (Yao, Jiu)", its deep meaning should be: Although the thing you gave me was papaya (peaches, plums), your affection is truly more precious 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 seems that other interpreters of this poem also suffer from the same problem of taking basically abstract objects such as papaya and Qiong Yao too seriously. 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. From this point of view, later in the Han Dynasty Zhang Heng's "Poetry of Four Sorrows" "A beauty gave me a gold knife, how can I repay Ying Qiong Yao", although it said "gold in return of jade". Its meaning is actually the same as "throwing wood in return for gold". Appreciation 2 The Book of Songs is the earliest poetry collection in my country, divided into three parts: Feng (Fifteen Kingdoms), Ya (Daya, Xiaoya), and Song (Zhou Song, Shang Song, Lu Song). From the literal description, this poem describes the exchange of gifts between two people, but in essence it expresses mutual feelings. It is about a man and his beloved woman exchanging tokens to establish a mutual agreement.
"Give me a papaya and repay you with Qiongju. If a bandit repays you, he will always think it is good." What you gave me was papaya fruit, and what I gave you in return was "Qiongju". In return The value of the gift is much more expensive than the gift, which reflects the noble emotions of human beings. This emotion includes love, family affection, and friendship. This kind of emotion focuses on considering the psychology of the other person, striving to achieve balance and satisfaction in the other person's heart, so as to have a heart-to-heart relationship with each other. Therefore, what is given back and its value are valued here is its symbolic meaning, which expresses the love for others. Cherishing one's affection is an expression of admiration, so it is said that "it is always good to retaliate."
The author of the following verses uses exactly the same sentence structure and format as the first verse. Only the tokens given to each other between men and women have changed. You give me "wooden peach" and I will give you back. "Qiong Yao"; if you give me "Mu Li", I will give you "Qiong Jiu" in return. See what that means. As long as you give me something, I will give you something more expensive than what you gave me. From a formal point of view, it is just It is just the recurrence of the first stanza, with repeated chapters and changing words. From the perspective of expression, it shows that the emotion is deepening step by step. Especially from the perspective of artistic expression, this is a major feature of the Book of Songs, repeating chapters. In the form of a refrain, the chant is composed of three sighs. It can be said that the lingering sound lingers around for three days without stopping.