English中文
Partridge Sky: Holding the Scented Note, I Recall Xiaolian
手捻香笺忆小莲。
欲将遗恨倩谁传。
归来独卧逍遥夜，
梦里相逢酩酊天。
A scented letter in hand, I think of Little Lotus. Whom can I ask to convey this lingering grief? Coming home I lie alone through a night of idle freedom; in dreams we meet again in drunken bliss.
花易落，
月难圆。
只应花月似欢缘。
秦筝算有心情在，
试写离声入旧弦。
Flowers fall easily, the moon is seldom round: surely flowers and the moon are like our bond of love. The Qin zither, at least, still seems to hold feeling, let me try writing the sound of parting upon its old strings.
Reading notes
捻 is also written 撚. This page retains 秦筝算有; another version reads 秦筝若有. 倩谁传 asks whom one can enlist to carry the message; 倩 is read qiàn.