English中文
Song of the Southland: Aboard the Painted Boat
乘彩舫，
过莲塘，
棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯。
游女带香偎伴笑，
争窈窕，
竞折团荷遮晚照。
We take a painted boat and pass the lotus pond; the boat-song startles the sleeping mandarin ducks. The girls, all fragrance, lean on their companions and laugh, vying in loveliness, competing to pluck round lotus leaves to shield themselves from the evening sun.
Reading notes
彩舫 is a decorated, painted boat. 带香 also appears as 带花; this page retains 带香. 棹歌 is a boating song. 团荷 means round lotus leaves, which the girls gather to shield themselves from the evening sun.