I am reading you quite for a while and for some reasons can't find one of your's translation of poem, where man goes to his friend but when he is almost there, he decides to go back. I think, it was written by Su Dongpo. Do you know what poem I am talking about?
I do, that's a really famous one! It's not on this blog yet because Su Dongpo lived in the Song, about 300 years later. But I have translated it... let me see if I can dig it out.
Huh. Turns out I hadn't translated it before, only talked about it. So here goes, this is just a very quick version. Be warned, this is a Controversial Reading (TM). So far as I know, no one else uses this reading of the poem - but it's the only one that makes sense!
To the Tune of Calming the Wind and Waves
Su Shi
On the 7th day of the 3rd month, I was caught in a rainstorm on the Shahu Road. Our rain gear had been sent ahead, and the others in my party were upset, but I didn’t mind it at all. The skies gradually cleared, and I wrote this.
Don’t listen to the whistling through the woods,
Or the flapping of the leaves,
Why not whistle as we walk, or sing?
We’ve bamboo canes and rattan sandals
Nimbler than a horse
So who’s afraid?
A poncho made of straw, and I’ll survive
What wind and rain life throws at me.
A chilly springtime breeze will wake us up,
It’s brisk but clears the hangover.
And on that hilltop
The slanting sunbeams welcome our arrival.
Look back and see the dark path that we walked
If we’d gone back,
We’d have dodged the wind and rain, and lost the sun.
Great poem, great translation!
I am reading you quite for a while and for some reasons can't find one of your's translation of poem, where man goes to his friend but when he is almost there, he decides to go back. I think, it was written by Su Dongpo. Do you know what poem I am talking about?
I do, that's a really famous one! It's not on this blog yet because Su Dongpo lived in the Song, about 300 years later. But I have translated it... let me see if I can dig it out.
Thank you so much! Probably I read it in different place, but for some reason thought that read it here.
Huh. Turns out I hadn't translated it before, only talked about it. So here goes, this is just a very quick version. Be warned, this is a Controversial Reading (TM). So far as I know, no one else uses this reading of the poem - but it's the only one that makes sense!
To the Tune of Calming the Wind and Waves
Su Shi
On the 7th day of the 3rd month, I was caught in a rainstorm on the Shahu Road. Our rain gear had been sent ahead, and the others in my party were upset, but I didn’t mind it at all. The skies gradually cleared, and I wrote this.
Don’t listen to the whistling through the woods,
Or the flapping of the leaves,
Why not whistle as we walk, or sing?
We’ve bamboo canes and rattan sandals
Nimbler than a horse
So who’s afraid?
A poncho made of straw, and I’ll survive
What wind and rain life throws at me.
A chilly springtime breeze will wake us up,
It’s brisk but clears the hangover.
And on that hilltop
The slanting sunbeams welcome our arrival.
Look back and see the dark path that we walked
If we’d gone back,
We’d have dodged the wind and rain, and lost the sun.