Lotus Pond Under the Moonlight (translation by alexcwlin)
這幾天心裏頗不寧靜。
In recent days, I had been feeling a bit agitated.
今晚在院子裏坐著乘涼，忽然想起日日走過的荷塘，在這滿月的光裏，總該另有壹番樣子吧。
This night, I was sitting around in the garden to catch the breeze when out of the blue, the lotus pond which I passed by every day came to mind. I wondered if it would look any different under the light of the full moon.
月亮漸漸地升高了，墻外馬路上孩子們的歡笑，已經聽不見了；妻在屋裏拍著閏兒，迷迷糊糊地哼著眠歌。我悄悄地披了大衫，帶上門出去。
The moon was creeping higher. Children’s laughter on the street outside of the walls was gone. The wife was patting our son Little Run to sleep while murmuring a lullaby. I puton a coat quietly, closed the door behind me and headed out.
沿著荷塘，是壹條曲折的小煤屑路。這是壹條幽僻的路；白天也少人走，夜晚更加寂寞。荷塘四面，長著許多樹，蓊蓊郁郁的。路的壹旁，是些楊柳，和壹些不知道名字的樹。沒有月光的晚上，這路上陰森森的，有些怕人。今晚卻很好，雖然月光也還是淡淡的。
Alongside the lotus pond was a winding off-the-beaten-track cinder trail. Passers-by were few during the day, and fewer during the night. Densely-grown and shady trees surrounded the lotus pond in all directions. Willow and no-name trees lined thetrail which would, on moonless nights, look dreary and spooky. That night was fine, albeit the moonlight was somewhat dim.
路上只我壹個人，背著手踱著。這壹片天地好象是我的；我也象超出了平常的自己，到了另壹個世界裏。我愛熱鬧，也愛冷靜；愛群居，也愛獨處。象今晚上，壹個人在這蒼茫的月下，什麽都可以想，什麽都可以不想，便覺是個自由的人。白天裏壹定要做的事，壹定要說的話，現在都可以不理。這是獨處的妙處，我且受用這無邊的荷香月色好了。
I was strolling alone on the road with hands clasped together behind my back. It seemed everything around was all mine, and I had sublimed to another dimension. I liked excitement, but I also liked quietness. I liked crowds, but I also liked solitude. At a time like that night under ubiquitous moonlight, I was at liberty to let my mind fly free or draw a blank. I could put aside the things I needed to do or say during daytime. Such was the beauty of being alone, and besides, I could indulge myself in the sweet aroma of the lotus and the immense beauty of the moonlight.
曲曲折折的荷塘上面，彌望的是田田的葉子。葉子出水很高，象亭亭的舞女的裙。層層的葉子中間，零星地點綴著些白花，有裊娜地開著的，有羞澀地打著朵兒的；正如壹粒粒的明珠，又如碧天裏的星星，又如剛出浴的美人。微風過處，送來屢屢清香，仿佛遠處高樓上渺茫的歌聲似的。
Across the undulating surface of the lotus pond was a field of leaves filling the landscape. The leaves reached high above water like skirts of tiptoeing ballerinas. Sprinkled among them were white flowers. Some were showily in bloom while others were sheepishly in bud, resembling glittery pearls, twinkly stars, or freshly-bathed beauties. Breezes continually delivered dainty fragrance much like faint music from a distant tower.
月光如流水壹般，靜靜地瀉在這壹片葉子和花上。薄薄的青霧浮起在荷塘裏。葉子和花仿佛在牛乳中洗過壹樣；又象籠著輕紗的夢。
Moonlight, seemingly like streaming water, gently doused the patch of leaves and flowers. Adding thesoft mist rising in the pond to the mix, the leaves and flowers appeared as if they had been rinsed in milk or they were dreams draped in fine silk.
雖然是滿月，天上卻有壹層淡淡的雲，所以不能朗照；但我以為這恰是到了好處——酣眠固不可少，小睡也別有風味的。
Even though there was a full moon, it could not shine with total brightness because the sky was splattered with wispy clouds. To me it was just right, much like a good night’s sleep would be an essential, but a short nap would be a gratification of sort.
月光是隔了樹照過來的，高處叢生的灌木，落下參差的班駁的黑影，峭楞楞如鬼壹般；彎彎的楊柳的稀疏的倩影，卻又是畫在荷葉上。塘中的月色並不均勻；但光與影有著和諧的旋律，如梵婀玲上奏著的名曲。
Moonlight shonethrough the trees and cast jagged irregular shadows of those tall bushy shrubsstanding vertically like ghostly figures. Sparsely-leafed willows projected their bowing and shapely images on lotus foliage. Reflection of the moonshine was unevenly dispersed in the pond, but lights and shades meshed harmoniously in rhythm just like a musical masterpiece played on violin.
荷塘的四面，遠遠近近，高高低低都是樹，而楊柳最多。這些樹將壹片荷塘重創圍住；只在小路壹旁，漏著幾段空隙，象是特為月光留下的。樹色壹律是陰陰的，乍看象壹團煙霧；但楊柳的豐姿，便在煙霧裏也辨得出。樹梢上隱隱約約的是壹帶遠山，只有些大意罷了。樹縫裏也漏著壹兩點路燈光，沒精打采的，是渴睡人的眼。這時候最熱鬧的，要數樹上的蟬聲與水裏的蛙聲；但熱鬧是它們的，我什麽也沒有。
All sides of the lotus pond were full of trees at varying distances and heights. Willow trees were the largest in number. Those trees tightly barricaded the lotus pond and left a few openings next to the pathways as if they were reserved for the moonlight to go through. Trees looked homogeneously shadowy seemingly enveloped in fog, and yet the curvaceous contours of willows were still distinguishable. Vaguely visible over the tree tops were mountains from afar, even though in outline only. A couple of street lights peeked through the trees lethargically looking like sleepy eyes. The most vivacious at the time were the buzzing from cicadas and the croaking from frogs. But while they were partying away, I was left in thecold.
忽然想起采蓮的事情來了。采蓮是江南的舊俗，似乎很早就有，而六朝時為盛；從詩歌裏可以約略知道。采蓮的是少年的女子，她們是蕩的小船，唱著艷歌去的，采蓮人不用說很多，還有看采蓮的人。那是有個熱鬧的季節，也是壹個風流的季節。
All of a sudden my mind switched to lotus-seed picking, which was an old tradition of Jiangnan from way back. It was most prevalent during the era of the Six Dynasties. Poems and songs more or less could tell us lotus seed pickers were teenage girls drifting around in small boats while humming beautiful melodies. Needless to say there were plenty of pickers and spectators. That was an exciting festival full of romances.
梁元帝《采蓮賦》裏說得好：
於是妖童媛女，蕩舟心許；鹢首徐回，兼傳羽杯；棹將移而藻掛，船欲動而萍開。爾其纖腰束素，遷延顧步；夏始春余，葉嫩花初，恐沾裳而淺笑，畏傾船而斂裙。
Emperor Yuan of the Liang Dynasty, in his “Ode to Lotus Picking”, described it well:
“And so the handsome lad and sweet maiden drifted around in a small boat while pledging their undying love to each other. Back and forth the little craft was rowed and the wine glasses were passed. Algae draped over the paddling oars and floating duckweed made way for the moving boat. With a white ribbon tied around her slender waist, she hesitated in advancing the boat and kept looking back at where she started. The time was late spring and early summer when leaves were greening and flowers were budding. She giggled when her dress was in danger of getting wet, and lifted up the bottom of her skirt in fear the boat might tilt.”
可見當時嬉遊的光景了。這真是有趣的事，可惜我們現在早已無福消受了。
That was a glimpse of playing around then. It was a fun event, but regretfully we could no longer enjoy it nowadays.
於是又記起《西洲曲》裏的句子：采蓮南塘秋，蓮花過人頭；低頭弄蓮子，蓮子清如水。
And then I recall verses in “Ballad of Xizhou”: “In picking lotus seeds in South Pond during the fall, the plants measured in excess of man’s height. Looking down at those seeds being handled, they were as clear as water.”
今晚若有采蓮人，這兒的蓮花也算得“過人頭”了；只不見壹些流水的影子，是不行的。這令我到底惦著江南了。——這樣想著，猛壹擡頭，不覺已是自己的門前；輕輕地推門進去，什麽聲息也沒有，妻已睡熟好久了。
If there were lotus-seed pickers that night, they would consider the plants there to be taller than a man. However, it just didn’t seem right that streams of flowing water were missing from the scene; that brought back the memory of Jiangnan. While deep in thought, I abruptly looked up and unaware to me I had arrived at my home doorstep. I softly pushed open the door. It was quiet, and my wife had already been deep in sleep for quite some time.