先秦詩(shī)歌 Poems of the Pre-Qin Days

《詩(shī)經(jīng)》這是中國(guó)古代最早的一部詩(shī)歌總集，是中國(guó)詩(shī)歌的開(kāi)源之作。全書(shū)收錄詩(shī)歌305篇，分為“風(fēng)”、“雅”、“頌”三大類?！帮L(fēng)”主要反映民風(fēng)和習(xí)俗，即廣大下層人民的生活；“雅”主要反映貴族上層人物的生活；“頌”主要收錄祭祀祖先、祝告神靈的詩(shī)歌。

《詩(shī)經(jīng)》中的詩(shī)歌產(chǎn)生于周朝初期（前11世紀(jì)）至春秋中葉（前6世紀(jì)），時(shí)間跨度有500多年，即使晚期的作品距今也有約2500年了。時(shí)間的久遠(yuǎn)、語(yǔ)言的變遷、社會(huì)環(huán)境的根本變化，都使《詩(shī)經(jīng)》的語(yǔ)言、內(nèi)容以及所反映的思想感情和社會(huì)狀況與今天的讀者之間產(chǎn)生了很大的距離，因此，閱讀和理解《詩(shī)經(jīng)》中的作品，對(duì)于今天的讀者來(lái)說(shuō)是一件相當(dāng)困難的事。但無(wú)論如何，《詩(shī)經(jīng)》卻不可不讀，因?yàn)樗粌H是中國(guó)詩(shī)歌的鼻祖，更是一部珍貴的史書(shū)，反映著幾千年前中國(guó)社會(huì)的真實(shí)面貌。《詩(shī)經(jīng)》中的大多數(shù)詩(shī)歌來(lái)自民間，少數(shù)詩(shī)歌是王侯貴族的作品。每一首詩(shī)的具體作者都已無(wú)法查考，只有詩(shī)歌中鮮活的形象和內(nèi)容，以及精煉準(zhǔn)確的語(yǔ)言，依舊為我們展現(xiàn)出中國(guó)古代歷史那多彩的畫(huà)卷。

An Introduction to The Book of Songs

The Book of Songs is the very first general collection of ancient Chinese poems，and is the source of the Chinese poetry．It is composed of three hundred and five poems，divided into the“Feng”，the“Ya”and the“Song”．The“Feng”mainly reflects the local traits and customs，or the life of the broad masses of the people from the lower classes；the“Ya”reflects the life of the nobles and upper circles；and the“Song”comprises poems used when people are sacrificing to ancestors and praying to spiritual beings.

The poems in The Book of Songs were composed from the early Zhou Dynasty to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period，spanning a time of more than 500 years，and even the latest pieces were about 2500 years old．Since The Book of Songs is of the remote past，and fundamental changes have taken place in language and the social environment，the language，content，feelings and the social situation it reflects differ from what they are today．Therefore，it is rather difficult for the readers today to read and understand the pieces in The Book of Songs．Anyhow，The Book of Songs must be read because it is not only the originator of the Chinese poetry，but also valuable historical records，reflecting the real social situation of the China thousands of years ago．The vast majority of the poems in The Book of Songs came from the ordinary people，while a small number were composed by princes，marquises and the nobles．The exact author of each poem can’t be traced，and only the vivid figures and contents in the poems，and the refined and precise language reveal for us a colourful historical scene of the ancient China.

關(guān)雎

〇《詩(shī)經(jīng)》

關(guān)關(guān)雎鳩^（1），在河之洲^（2）。

窈窕淑女^（3），君子好逑^（4）。

參差荇菜^（5），左右流之^（6）。

窈窕淑女，寤寐求之^（7）。

求之不得^（8），寤寐思服^（9）。

悠哉悠哉^（10），輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè) ^（11）。

參差荇菜，左右采之。

窈窕淑女，琴瑟友之 ^（12）。

參差荇菜，左右芼之 ^（13）。

窈窕淑女，鐘鼓樂(lè)之 ^（14）。

【注釋】

(1) 關(guān)關(guān)雎鳩：水鳥(niǎo)在一聲聲不停地歌唱。關(guān)關(guān)：水鳥(niǎo)鳴叫的聲音。雎（jū）鳩（jiū）：河邊生活的水鳥(niǎo)。

(2) 在河之洲：（水鳥(niǎo)唱歌的地方）在河流中由沙石、泥土、水草淤（yū）積而成的沙丘之上。

(3) 窈窕淑女：身材美好又溫和善良的女子。窈窕（yǎo tiǎo）：身段美麗，心地美好。淑：溫和善良。

(4) 君子好逑：（美麗善良的姑娘）正是我所喜愛(ài)和追求的。君子：古代對(duì)男子的尊稱。好（hào）：喜愛(ài)。逑（qiú）：配偶。另一說(shuō)為追求。

(5) 參差荇菜：（河中長(zhǎng)著）高低不齊的水荇菜。參差（cēn cī）：長(zhǎng)短不齊。荇（xìng）菜：多年生水草。

(6) 左右流之：向左，向右，順著水流采摘荇菜。流：順流采摘。

(7) 寤寐求之：醒著睡著都想得到她。寤（wù）：睡醒。寐（mèi）：睡著。求：追求。之：代詞，代指美麗的姑娘。

(8) 求之不得：想得到姑娘又得不到。

(9) 寤寐思服：醒著睡著想念姑娘想得好苦。思：想念。服：仰慕、崇拜。

(10) 悠哉悠哉：想啊想啊。悠（yōu）：憂愁思念的樣子，恍惚飄然的心情。哉（zāi）：語(yǔ)氣詞，相當(dāng)于“啊”。

(11) 輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)：翻來(lái)覆去睡不著。

(12) 琴瑟友之：用奏琴鼓瑟的方式向姑娘表示友好。琴瑟（qín sè）：奏樂(lè)的工具，樂(lè)器。

13 芼（mào）：采摘、選擇。

(14) 鐘鼓樂(lè)之：敲鐘擊鼓使姑娘快樂(lè)。樂(lè)（lè）之：“樂(lè)”在這里作動(dòng)詞用，使某人快樂(lè)。之：代詞，指姑娘。

Cooing and Wooing

in the Book of Songs

By riverside a pair

Of water birds are cooing;

There is a maiden fair

A good young man is wooing.

Water flows left and right

Of cress long here，short there;

The youth yearns day and night

For the good maiden fair.

His yearning grows so strong，

He cannot fall asleep，

But tosses all night long，

So deep in love，so deep！

Now gather left and right

Cress long or short and tender！

O lute，play music bright

For the bride sweet and slender！

Feast Friends at left and right

On cress cooked till tender！

O bells and drums，delight

The bride so sweet and slender！

【賞析】

這首詩(shī)是《詩(shī)經(jīng)》305篇詩(shī)歌的第一篇，屬于“國(guó)風(fēng)”類。古代學(xué)子學(xué)習(xí)《詩(shī)經(jīng)》都要從“關(guān)關(guān)雎鳩”開(kāi)始背誦，因此，它是《詩(shī)經(jīng)》中最著名的一首，也許可以稱為“中國(guó)第一詩(shī)”。就詩(shī)本身而言，學(xué)者認(rèn)為它來(lái)自民間，因?yàn)樵?shī)中對(duì)生活的描寫(xiě)樸實(shí)自然，如河邊的水鳥(niǎo)、采摘荇菜的姑娘。全詩(shī)的中心內(nèi)容是表達(dá)一位男子對(duì)一位美麗姑娘的思念和追求。詩(shī)的語(yǔ)言真切生動(dòng)，如“關(guān)關(guān)雎鳩”仿佛讓人聽(tīng)到水鳥(niǎo)的叫聲；“輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)”仿佛讓人看到主人公因思念姑娘而徹夜不眠的形象。從這首詩(shī)還可以看到，古代中國(guó)勞動(dòng)人民中，男女愛(ài)情是大膽、率直、熱烈而且純真的，不像封建社會(huì)晚期有那么多禮教的約束，也不像貴族上層那樣看重人的地位和財(cái)產(chǎn)。“中國(guó)第一詩(shī)”是一篇真誠(chéng)的愛(ài)情詩(shī)，可見(jiàn)“愛(ài)情”是詩(shī)歌重要而且永恒的主題之一。這首詩(shī)對(duì)后世有重大的影響，所以其中的詞匯有不少被原樣照搬或稍加改動(dòng)后成為漢語(yǔ)中固定的說(shuō)法，如“窈窕淑女”、“寤寐以求”、“求之不得”、“輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)”等。漢語(yǔ)中有很多四字成語(yǔ)，或許正是由此開(kāi)始的。

Interpretation

This is the first piece of the three hundred and five poems in The Book of Songs，and it is classified to Guo Feng or ballads from the States．In the ancient China，students who learned The Book of Songs must begin with the recitation of “Guan Guan sings the water bird”，thus it is one of the most well-known pieces of The Book of Songs．It can be rated as“the first poem of China”．With regard to the poem itself，scholars think it came from the people，since its description of life is simple and natural，such as the water bird by the river，and the girl who was picking water plants．The central idea of the poem is to convey a man’s yearning for and wooing to a beautiful lady．The language of the poem is vivid and lively．For example，“Guan Guan sings the water bird”makes us feel as if we were listening to the singing of the water bird；while “he tossed and turned”portrays the man who was lying awake all night thinking of the lady．From the poem we can understand that in the ancient China love between a man and a woman was bold and unreserved as well as warm and pure，unlike in the late feudal society where there were so many restrictions of the feudal ethics，and the nobles regarded status and property as supremely important.“The first poem of China”is a sincere love poem，so it is evident that“l(fā)ove”is one of the important and eternal subjects of poetry．This poem has exerted great influence on the literature of later ages，therefore quite a few of its words and phrases have become fixed idioms of the Chinese language used as original or by making slight changes，such as“Yao Tiao Shu Nü”—a lovely and good lady，“Wu Mei Yi Qiu”—long for something day and night，“Qiu Zhi Bu De”—all one could wish for and“Zhan Zhuan Fan Ce”—toss and turn，etc．There are many four-character idioms in Chinese，which may have begun with this poem.

伐檀（節(jié)選）

〇《詩(shī)經(jīng)》

坎坎^（1）伐檀^（2）兮^（3），

寘之河之干^（4）兮。

河水清且漣猗^（5）。

不稼^（6）不穡^（7），

胡^（8）取禾^（9）三百廛 ^（10）兮？

不狩不獵 ^（11），

胡瞻爾庭有縣貆兮^（12）？

彼君子兮^（13），

不素餐兮^（14）！

【注釋】

(1) 坎坎（kǎn kǎn）：砍伐樹(shù)木的聲音。

(2) 伐檀：砍伐檀（tán）樹(shù)。檀樹(shù)是一種堅(jiān)硬高大的喬木，樹(shù)干是制造家具、農(nóng)具、樂(lè)器的好材料。

(3) 兮（xī）：語(yǔ)氣助詞，相當(dāng)于現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言中的“啊”。

(4) 寘之河之干：把（砍下的檀木）放在河岸邊上。寘（zhì）：相當(dāng)于“置”，放置。干：岸邊。之：句子中的兩個(gè)“之”字意思和用法不同。第一個(gè)“之”是代詞，代指檀木；第二個(gè)“之”字是助詞，表示所屬關(guān)系，相當(dāng)于“的”。

(5) 河水清且漣猗（lián yī）：河水清澈（chè），水面泛起微波。且：連詞，表示遞進(jìn)關(guān)系“不僅……而且……”。漣：風(fēng)吹水面形成波浪為“漣”。猗：語(yǔ)氣助詞，相當(dāng)于“啊”。

(6) 不稼：不種地。稼（jià）：耕種土地，種植谷物。

(7) 不穡：不收割谷物。穡（sè）：收割谷物。

(8) 胡：為什么。

(9) 取禾：拿走糧食。禾：谷物，糧食。

10 廛（chán）：一捆，一束。

11 不狩不獵：不捕捉禽獸。狩（shòu）：冬天打獵。獵：打獵。

(12) 胡瞻爾庭有縣貆兮：為什么看見(jiàn)你的庭院里掛滿了幼貉（hé）？貆（huán）：幼小的貉，貉是一種哺乳動(dòng)物。瞻（zhān）：向高處看。爾：你的。庭：庭院?？h（xuán）：這里同“懸”，懸掛。

13 彼君子兮：那些貴族老爺們哪！

14 不素餐（cān）兮：不白吃閑飯哪！素餐：不做事白吃飯。

The Woodcutter’s Song（A Selected Stanza）

in the Book of Songs

Chop，chop，our blows on elm trees go;

On rivershore we pile up wood.

The clear and rippling waters flow.

How can those who nor reap nor sow

Have three hundred sheaves of corn in their place？

How can those who nor hunt nor chase

Have in their courtyard badgers of each race？

Those lords are good

Who need not work for food！

【賞析】

“伐檀”出自“國(guó)風(fēng)”中的“魏風(fēng)”，是反映魏國(guó)民俗的詩(shī)歌中的一首。它借一位伐木人之口表達(dá)了下層窮苦勞動(dòng)人民對(duì)不勞而獲而又過(guò)著富足生活的上層貴族的不滿。

前三句寫(xiě)勞動(dòng)的場(chǎng)面：一下一下地砍樹(shù)，將砍倒的樹(shù)干放到河邊，看到清清的河水在微風(fēng)吹動(dòng)下泛起漣漪。中間四句是非常大膽的質(zhì)問(wèn)：不種地，不收獲，為什么拿走很多糧食？不辛苦，不打獵，為什么家中掛滿生肉？最后的兩句是總結(jié)，也是憤怒的抗議：那些養(yǎng)尊處優(yōu)的貴族老爺們哪，你們都是不干活白吃閑飯的人！整首詩(shī)以相同的句式和近似的內(nèi)容重復(fù)了三次，本書(shū)只選取了第一段。由于這首詩(shī)表達(dá)了勞動(dòng)人民的心聲，揭露了不公平的社會(huì)現(xiàn)象，因而受到廣大人民的喜愛(ài)，千百年來(lái)萬(wàn)口相傳，成為《詩(shī)經(jīng)》中的名篇。

Interpretation

The Book of Songs is classified into three sections，the“Feng”，the“Ya”and the“Song”．The full name of the“Feng”is“Guo Feng”，which consists of ballads from the States，recording and reflecting the customs and habits as well as the living conditions of the different States and regions.

Fa Tan，or Cutting Down the Hardwood Trees，comes from“Ballads of the State of Wei”in“Ballads from the States”，mirroring the folk customs of the State of Wei．The poem quotes a lumberman to convey the impoverished working people’s resentment against the nobles，who led a rich life without labouring.

The first three lines portray a scene of physical work：the lumbermen are cutting down the trees blow after blow，placing what have been hewed on the river bank，and the clear water is rippling under the gentle breeze．The four lines in the middle of the poem are boldly questioning the nobles：why have you taken so much grain away from us while you neither sow nor reap？Where have you got the raw meat hanging up in your courtyards while you neither toil nor go hunting？The last two lines summarize the poem and make an angry protest：those officers and noblemen，who live in clover，why do you acquire and enjoy like parasites without any proper services performed？The same sentence pattern and similar content have been repeated three times，and what is selected here is the first stanza．The poem has voiced the great indignation of the working people and exposed the unjust social phenomenon，therefore，it is liked by the broad masses of the people and handed down through the ages．It has become one of the most famous pieces in The Book of Songs.

屈原（約前340—約前278），本名屈平，字原，又在詩(shī)中自稱名正則，字靈均。他是戰(zhàn)國(guó)時(shí)期楚國(guó)的貴族，遍讀百書(shū)，學(xué)識(shí)淵博，文才出眾，忠心愛(ài)國(guó)，成為中國(guó)歷史上第一位有名有姓的偉大詩(shī)人。他曾任三閭（lǘ）大夫（楚國(guó)貴族中最顯赫的三姓氏族的首腦），輔佐楚懷王，后遭人讒言革去官職，并被長(zhǎng)期流放在現(xiàn)在湖南的沅江、湘江一帶。楚國(guó)首都被秦國(guó)攻破后，他為祖國(guó)的淪亡而傷心，對(duì)統(tǒng)治者的腐敗無(wú)比憤恨而又無(wú)可奈何，遂自投汨（mì）羅江而死。他一生寫(xiě)了大量的詩(shī)歌，詩(shī)文語(yǔ)言華美，想象奇特，篇幅宏大，內(nèi)容豐富，成為繼《詩(shī)經(jīng)》之后彪炳詩(shī)壇的偉大杰作，后人尊其為“可與日月?tīng)?zhēng)光”。其中《離騷》為其代表作，主要是敘述作者自己的身世、表達(dá)自己的志趣、揭露和指斥統(tǒng)治者的昏庸。《離騷》以外還有其他多篇作品，諸如《天問(wèn)》提出了關(guān)于自然現(xiàn)象和社會(huì)歷史方面的許多問(wèn)題，表現(xiàn)出作者對(duì)事物的觀察、思考和探索的精神；《九歌》則是優(yōu)美的祭神樂(lè)歌。屈原之后，宋玉等人承襲屈原文體的形式，運(yùn)用楚國(guó)的方言音韻寫(xiě)成多篇文賦，后人統(tǒng)稱其為“楚辭”?！俺o”是中國(guó)文學(xué)史中一個(gè)特定歷史時(shí)期的文學(xué)形式，也是中國(guó)古代文學(xué)遺產(chǎn)中的瑰寶。

Qu Yuan（about 340 B.C.-about 278 B.C.）was originally called Qu Ping．His courtesy name was Yuan and his style name Lingjun．In his poems he called himself Zhengze．Qu Yuan was a nobleman of the State of Chu，one of the Warring States．Being the first great poet and writer with established identity in the Chinese history，Qu Yuan had read all the books and was learned with outstanding literary talents，and he was loyal and devoted to his motherland．Qu Yuan used to be a senior official assisting King Huai of Chu in governing the country，but he was calumniated and dismissed from his post later，and had been in exile for a long period of time in today’s Yuan River and Xiang River areas in Hunan Province．After the capital city of the State of Chu was captured by Qin’s army，Qu Yuan was so broken-hearted for his country’s subjugation and detested the corruption of the ruling class that he plunged into the Miluo River and was drowned．During his life Qu Yuan composed a great number of poems whose languages are magnificent with unusual imaginations，and they are very long with rich and various contents．Being great masterpieces shining in the poetical world following The Book of Songs，his literary works are respectfully described as“shining forever like the sun and the moon”．Li Sao is one of Qu Yuan’s representative works which mainly recounts his life experiences，expressing his aspirations and interests，exposing and denouncing the fatuousness of the rulers．His other works，such as Questions About Heaven，ask a lot of questions about natural phenomena and about the society and history，showing the writer’s sensitive observation，deep thinking and exploration of matters．The Nine Songs by him is an exquisite sacrificial music song．Using the dialect and rhyme of Chu，Song Yu and others followed Qu Yuan’s style and verse form and composed many literary compositions，which are generally called The Songs of the South by later generations.

離騷（節(jié)選）

〇屈原

長(zhǎng)太息以掩涕兮^（1），

哀民生之多艱^（2）！

余雖好修姱以鞿羈兮^（3），

謇朝誶而夕替^（4）！

既替余以蕙兮^（5），

又申之以攬茝^（6）；

亦余心之所善兮^（7），

雖九死其猶未悔^（8）！

【注釋】

(1) 長(zhǎng)太息以掩涕兮：我忍不住一聲聲悲哀地嘆息啊，用衣袖擦拭著滿面的淚水。太息：十分痛苦地嘆息。以：連詞，表示同時(shí)。掩涕：掩面哭泣。

(2) 哀民生之多艱：人民生活中有那么多艱辛和痛苦，讓我感到悲哀。

(3) 余雖好修姱以鞿羈兮：我只是因?yàn)橄矚g修飾自己和保持美德就受到了許多的讒言和約束。余：古文中的“我”。雖：只是，因?yàn)?。好（hào）：喜歡，愛(ài)好。修姱（ku?。盒揎椀檬置篮谩ｍZ羈（jī jī）：馬嚼子和馬籠頭，這里表示受人牽制和約束。

(4) 謇朝誶而夕替：早晨剛進(jìn)諫陳述了自己的意見(jiàn)，晚上就丟了官。謇（jiǎn）：忠誠(chéng)，正直。朝（zhāo）：早晨。誶（suì）：進(jìn)諫，給帝王提意見(jiàn)。夕（xī）：傍晚。替：廢棄，這里是被取代、被罷官的意思。

(5) 既替余以蕙兮：廢黜我是因?yàn)槲蚁矚g佩帶美麗的蕙（huì）草。（xiāng）：佩帶，佩飾。

(6) 又申之以攬茝：更加上我喜歡采摘芬芳的白芷（zhǐ）。申：加上。以：因?yàn)?。攬（lǎn）：懷抱著，雙臂摟著。茝（chǎi）：一種有香味的草，即香草，有人認(rèn)為是白芷。

(7) 亦余心之所善兮：只要是我心里所喜歡的東西。亦：只要是。善：喜歡。

(8) 雖九死其猶未悔：就是死多少次也絕不后悔。雖：即使，縱然。

Sorrow After Departure（Selected Verse）

by Qu Yuan

I sigh and wipe away my tears，oh！

I’m grieved at a life full of woes.

Good and just，I hear only jeers，oh！

Morning and night I suffer blows.

I make a belt of grasses sweet，oh！

And add to it clovers and thymes.

My heart tells me it’s good and meet，oh！

I won’t regret to die nine times.

【賞析】

這幾句詩(shī)選自屈原的長(zhǎng)詩(shī)《離騷》（lí sāo）。有人認(rèn)為，“離”是“離別”，“騷”是“憂愁”。不過(guò)，對(duì)“離騷”這兩個(gè)字確切含義的解釋歷來(lái)有許多不同的說(shuō)法。《離騷》全詩(shī)共373句，2490個(gè)字。在兩千多年前的中國(guó)古代就出現(xiàn)了如此宏偉雄奇的長(zhǎng)詩(shī)，這在世界詩(shī)歌史上也是值得中國(guó)人自豪的。由于全詩(shī)太長(zhǎng)，文字也比較艱深難懂，本書(shū)只選取了其中八句。然而，這短短八句詩(shī)，已經(jīng)鮮明地反映出屈原的個(gè)性和追求。一個(gè)憂國(guó)憂民、追求完美、愿為心中的理想而獻(xiàn)身的愛(ài)國(guó)詩(shī)人形象活生生地站在我們眼前。

本書(shū)所選這部分詩(shī)中第一段的前兩句和第二段的后兩句是從遠(yuǎn)古傳至今天的名句?！鞍裆嗥D”反映了作者對(duì)廣大勞苦人民艱難生活的關(guān)心和同情；“雖九死其猶未悔”反映了作者勇敢無(wú)畏的斗爭(zhēng)精神和獻(xiàn)身精神。

Interpretation

The above lines are selected from Li Sao，a long poem by Qu Yuan．It is considered that “Li”means“parting”，while“Sao”refers to“sorrow”．However，the exact explanation to the definition of“Li Sao”has acquired many different versions in history．Li Sao consists of all together 373 lines，2490 characters．Such a magnificent，powerful long poem composed in the ancient China more than 2000 years ago deserves the Chinese people’s pride in the world’s poetic history．Because the entire poem is too long to be understood by the readers，only eight lines are chosen in this book．However，these eight lines alone have vividly portrayed the poet’s personal characters and pursuits．Qu Yuan presented himself in our eyes as a patriotic poet who was concerned about his country and his people，aiming at perfection and being ready to give his life for his ideal.

In this selection，the first two lines of the first stanza and the last two lines of the second stanza have been handed down from ancient times and quoted very often．The line“bemoan the so many hardships of the people’s life”shows the poet’s concern and sympathy for the sufferings of the toiling masses.“I would never repent even if I had to die many times”reflects the poet’s spirits of dauntless struggle and devotion.