鮑照【朗月行】的英文翻譯 / An English translation of the "Moon Shine Song" by Bao Zhao 414-466

《朗月行》 鮑照

朗 月 出 東 山
照 我 綺 窗 前
窗 中 多 佳 人
被 服 妖 且 妍
靚 妝 坐 帷 裏
當 戶 弄 清 弦
鬢 奮 衞 女 迅
體 絕 飛 燕 先
為 君 歌 一 曲
當 作 朗 月 篇
酒 至 顏 自 解
聲 和 心 亦 宣
千 金 何 足 重
所 存 意 氣 間

"Moon Shine Song" by Bao Zhao (translated by Haricot)

The bright moon rises from the east mountain
Caressing me by the window in her milky fountain

Behind the window I see many beauties
Hidden in bright quilt and clothes oh so flimsy

Some sit with pretty make-up behind drapes and curtains
Others at the door strike their chords clear and certain

Think of Mme Wei's hairs flying,
..... bemoaning the fall of a dynasty
Think of Empress Feiyan's body dancing,
.... perishing from loss of gravity

May we dedicate this song to you My lord
May we call it "Moon Shine" in our thoughts

Let the wine flow to bring forth our happy faces
Let's sing in harmony to untie our hearts' laces

A thousand taels of gold is not worth its weight
When it's life's essence that needs to be saved

說文解字 / Explanations :

1. With respect to the line "鬢奮衞女迅":

* "衛女": I assume Bao Zhao was not talking abt the brid-woman in the ancient Chinese legend【精衞填海】 which according to 《山海經．北山經卷三》: ... 炎帝之女名曰女娃。女娃游于東海，溺而不返，故為精衞，常銜西山之木石，以堙於東海。
* Instead, I assume he was referring to a woman character closer to his era, also being referred to as 衛女 (Madame Wei) in the Chinese classic【後漢書 卷二十八上‧ 列傳第十八上】.
* Now the verbal translation could have been: "With her side-burn flying, Mme Wei was quick" but I took the liberty of adding the historical context.

2. With respect to the line "體絕飛燕先":

* Just like the previous line, it's hard for me in 2009 trying to guess what Bao Zhao meant to say more than 1,500 years ago. I assume he was talking abt the slender body of Empress Zhao Feiyan趙飛燕 as in the idiom "燕瘦環肥".
* Now, the verbal translation could have been: "Of all the slender bodies, Feiyan's came first" but again I took the liberty of adding in the historical context (the Empress committed suicide after she had lost power and had been demoted to become a commoner).

3. With respect to the line "所存意氣間":

* I find the concluding line the most difficult to interpret. Was the authour talking abt the essence of songs and dance, or the essence of living? I chose the latter because of my decision to add the historical context in 1 and 2 above.

References:

* 【月】: 網友 Space 兄 http://mindnecessity.blogspot.com/2009/10/414466424453-hinet.html

* "鮑照" 維基百科Wikipedia:
"... 鮑照（414年－466年），字明遠，人稱鮑參軍，東海（今江蘇漣水縣北）人，中國南北朝詩人。宋元嘉（424年—453年）中，劉義慶以他為國侍郎。其後成為太學博士、中書舍人。臨海王劉子頊鎮荊州時，由於任前軍參軍，世稱鮑參軍。劉子頊作亂，為亂兵所殺。上集六朝精華，下啟唐八風氣的文學家是鮑照。
鮑照的詩主要學習張協和張華，善於摹寫形狀。宋顏延之問己與謝靈運優劣於鮑照，照曰：「謝五言如初發芙蓉，自然可愛；君詩鋪錦列繡，亦雕繢滿眼。」胡應麟《詩藪》稱其「上挽曹、劉之逸步，下開李、杜之先鞭」著有《鮑參軍集》。與謝靈運、顏延之並稱「元嘉三大家」。鮑照有個妹妹叫鮑令暉，是著名女詩人。.."
(Source: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AE%91%E7%85%A7 )

* "Bao Zhao 鮑照" 香港中文大學Renditions Magazine 譯樷:
"... Bao Zhao (Pao Chao) 414?-466
The most important yuefu poet in the Southern Dynasties (420-589). A native of Donghai, Bao served as an Attendant Gentleman to Liu Yiqing, the Prince of Linchuan and the author of Shishuo xinyu [A New Account of Tales of the World]. He was an Adjutant in the army of Liu Zixu, Prince of Linhai, when a revolt broke out and he was killed in the upheaval. His works were well-received by and quite influential to Tang poets. In addition to yuefu, Bao also excelled in fu and prose, among which 'Wucheng Fu' [The Ruined City] is the most famous. His extant works include some three dozen essays and over 200 poems collected in Bao Canjun ji [Collection of Attendant Bao]...."
(Source: http://www.renditions.org/renditions/authors/baozhao.html )

* 【衞女 / 後漢書 卷二十八上‧ 列傳第十八上】: "..... 宗正臨境，莫之能援。兵威屈辱，國權日損，三王背畔，赤眉害主，未見兼行倍道之赴，若墨翟累繭救宋，申包胥重胝存楚，衞女馳歸唁兄之志。衞女，衞宣公庶子頑之女，為許穆公夫人，其兄即戴公。弔失國曰唁。衞懿公為狄所滅，戴公乃立廬于曹邑。許穆夫人閔衞亡，思歸唁之，不得，乃賦載馳之詩。事見左傳。主亡一歲，莫知定所，虛冀妄言，苟肆鄙塞。未能事生，安能事死？未知為臣，焉知為主？豈厭為臣子，思為君父乎！欲搖太山而蕩北海，言不可也。孟子曰「挾太山而超北海」也。事敗身危，要思邑言。....."
(Source: http://www.sidneyluo.net/a/a03/028a.htm )

* 【趙飛燕】: "... 趙飛燕（前32年－前1年），原名宜主，是西漢漢成帝的皇后和漢哀帝時的皇太后。趙飛燕是一位在中國歷史上傳奇的人物。在《漢書》中對她的描述僅僅只有少數幾句，但關於她的野史卻有許多。在中國民間和歷史上，她以美貌著稱，所謂「環肥燕瘦」講的便是她和楊玉環，而燕瘦也通常用以比喻體態輕盈瘦弱的美女。... 趙飛燕出生卑賤，... 在陽阿公主那兒，被訓練為一個歌舞妓。... 像飛燕一樣靈巧，每每舞動時有翩然欲飛之勢，故改名「飛燕」。此後，人皆以「飛燕」稱之。..... 漢平帝登基，趙飛燕喪失了依靠，先由「皇太后」貶為孝成皇后，後來不久又被廢為庶人，最後還被派到成帝墳前守陵，趙飛燕難忍羞辱終以自殺收場。..."
(Source: Wikipedia http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E8%B5%B5%E9%A3%9E%E7%87%95 )