English中文
Immortal by the River: After the Dream, the Tower Locked Fast
梦后楼台高锁，
酒醒帘幕低垂。
去年春恨却来时。
落花人独立，
微雨燕双飞。
After the dream, the high tower is locked fast; woken from wine, the curtains hang low. Last year's grief of spring comes round again with the season. Among the falling flowers a man stands alone; in the fine rain the swallows fly in pairs.
记得小蘋初见，
两重心字罗衣。
琵琶弦上说相思。
当时明月在，
曾照彩云归。
I remember when I first met little Ping: a silk gown with the heart-pattern doubled. Upon the pipa's strings she spoke of longing. The bright moon of that time is still here — it once shone on her cloudlike figure as she returned.
Reading notes
蘋 in the name Xiaoping is read píng and is also written 苹. The closing image of a coloured cloud evokes the woman being remembered; the English translation follows this metaphor.