Translation of "Moonlight Boating in Junshan"

Boating on the lake on a moonlit night in autumn is the best tour. In this kind of tour, it is best to go boating in Junshan, Dongting Lake. I wonder if the ancients had this experience? I have regarded boating on Junshan Mountain in Dongting Lake as a beautiful wish in my life, and I once wrote this wish in my poem. It's the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar in Ding Maonian (1867), and I just got such an opportunity to travel to Junshan. Set sail from Longkou to Luxiangfeng. The moon rises from the top of the tree, and the boat swims in the picture of moonlight and lake water, as if it were a golden landscape painting. I was accompanied by two monks, Kai and Da, as well as my guests, my nephew Fei and my grandson Wu Po. There are more than a dozen flashing fishing boat lights under the high cliff in the south, which are connected to the west and pass by us one by one. (Look carefully) It turns out that fishermen are rocking boats to catch shrimp. The driver pointed to a tree on a high cliff and said to us, "This ancient camphor tree is undoubtedly as thick as a dozen people holding their arms. Its root is surrounded by a big stone more than ten feet square. From Yueyang City, looking at Junshan from a distance, a sudden shadow is this camphor tree. " But now I look up from the boat in the moonlight and think it is not particularly high. This is the first time I know this situation. Li Jun, a guest, said, "Su Shi went boating in Chibi on July 16th, which is only one day's journey from our boating in Dongting Lake today (July 15th)." I turned to my son, Sun Wupo, and said, "Don't you think this month is also between the stars and the bulls?" So we recited more than a dozen sentences in Su Shi's Red Cliff Fu. Later, I came out of the incense burner gorge and walked a little north. At the beginning of the voyage, the wind blew from the southeast, and then the wind blew obliquely from behind. The calmer the water, the more you can't stop the waves. When I see the inlet bank, I think I can stop here for a while. However, the ship sailed without landing. Before crossing Guanyin Spring and coming to Xiangshan (also known as Mingshan), we said that this tunnel can lead to Wuzhong (Taihu Lake in Jiangsu). Someone said, "The Golden Temple where the immortals live should be below here." As night falls, the moonlight is bright, and the mountains and water are silent, as if you can visit the legendary Xiangling and Dongting Jun. Later, it entered Houhu from the north and soon turned to the east. The water reflected the lights of Yuezhou on the shore. Clouds appeared, rising from the side of the boat, and the water was filled with misty clouds. Looking at these clouds, they become horizontal, and the clouds gradually rise and disappear. My grandson Wu Po said, "One night, from this place of Shazui, you can see the clouds in Houhu rising from the water. Some are like wheels, some are like huge water tanks, and there are about ten pieces. This is the place. " However, in this way, isn't the cave near the mountain a cave that should store clouds? There is no one living behind the mountain, and the grass shed built in the low and flat place in the mountain is the place where people on the island come to avoid the flood. There are several passenger ships moored here, and there is no noise. Then turn south, get out of Shazui, cross Liulin, and you will see the old temple gate. "Yuezhou Local Records" records that "the circumference of Junshan is more than 70 miles". According to our ship, it seems that it is more than seven miles long. After the ship stopped, people took out the dining table and mixed bitter gourd with chickens. At this time, the moon was high in the air, the wind and waves were blowing hard, and everyone was as drunk as a fiddler. After observing the precept of not eating meat, the Supreme Master drank a little, ate a few pears, and returned to the temple with prepared tea. In the middle of the night, we left the ship, went ashore, bid farewell to the super master and Li Jun, and the four of us went home along the road. The next day, I recorded the experience of visiting Junshan on a moonlit night.