Friday, February 27, 2015

牽絲戲 (Qiān Sī Xì) – Puppet show



Original uploading site: http://5sing.kugou.com/yc/2732572.html 

作曲/Music:銀臨 (Yin Lin)
編/混//Arrange/Mix:灰原窮 (Hui Yuan Qiong)
作詞/Lyrics:Vagary
演唱/Vocal:銀臨 (Yin Lin)、Aki阿杰 (A Jie)



【背景故事】

余少能視鬼,嘗於雪夜野寺逢一提傀儡翁,鶴髮襤褸,唯持一木偶制作極精,宛如嬌女,繪珠淚盈睫,惹人見憐。

時雲彤雪狂,二人比肩向火,翁自述曰:少時好觀牽絲戲,耽於盤鈴傀儡之技,既年長,其志愈堅,遂以此為業,以物像人自得其樂。奈何漂泊終生,居無所行無侶,所伴唯一傀儡木偶。

翁且言且泣,余溫言釋之,懇其奏盤鈴樂,作牽絲傀儡戲,演劇於三尺紅綿之上,度曲咿嚶­,木偶顧盼神飛,雖妝繪悲容而婉媚絕倫。

曲終,翁抱持木偶,稍作歡容,俄頃恨怒,曰:平生落魄,皆傀儡誤之,天寒,冬衣難置,一貧至此,不如焚,遂忿然投偶入火。吾止而未及,跌足嘆惋。忽見火中木偶婉轉而起,肅拜揖別,姿若生人,繪面淚痕宛然,一笑迸散,沒於篝焰。

火至天明方熄。

翁頓悟,掩面嚎啕,曰:暖矣,孤矣。



Background

I have been able to see ghosts since I was young. There was once I met an old puppeteer in a secluded temple on a snowing night. He had hair white as crane, dressed in tattered clothes, and was holding a delicate wooden puppet that looked like a charming girl with beads of teardrops painted as if brimming from its eyes, garnering the people’s sympathy.

That time the thick clouds were in abundance and the blizzard wild, we sat side by side facing the fire. The puppeteer told me his story: “Since a tender age I have enjoyed watching puppet shows, and obsessed over puppetry. I grew more determined as I aged, and therefore made puppeteering my career, entertaining myself with human-like puppets. However, I ended up wandering around all my life, with neither a place to settle nor a partner to travel with. My only company is this lone puppet.”

He cried as he talked, so I pacified him with warm words, asking him to play his musical instrument (pan ling) and perform a puppet show for me. He made a show out of red cotton strings, one meter tall, attached to the puppet. The song played had hints of sadness within, and the puppet appeared bright and life-like. Even though it is painted a melancholic face, it still displayed unsurpassed grace and charm. 

The performance ended, and the puppeteer held the puppet in his embrace, and he seemed to have lightened up slightly. Out of the blue, he turned hateful and angry, exclaiming: “All my life I have been this pathetic and rundown because of this puppet. On such a cold day I am so poor I can hardly afford winter clothes. I might as well have it burnt!” Furious, he tossed the puppet into the fire. Unable to stop him in time, I fell to the ground and sighed with regret. Unexpectedly, I saw the puppet rose gracefully in the fire, gesturing[1] a farewell, as though a living person, with the traces of tears on her painted face clearly visible. With a smile her form dispersed and disappeared in the caged flame[2].

The fire burnt till dawn broke, and then died off.

The old man suddenly came to his senses, covering his face and bawled, uttering: “It’s so warm, it’s so lonely.”



【歌詞】Lyrics:

[銀臨]

嘲笑誰恃美揚威                          
cháo xiào shéi shì měi yáng wēi

沒了心如何相配
méi le xīn rú hé xiāng pèi

盤鈴聲清脆    帷幕間燈火幽微
pán líng shēng qīng cuì / wéi mù jiān dēng huǒ yōu wēi

我和你 最天生一對
wǒ hé nǐ zuì tiān shēng yí duì


Who are you teasing, for brazen displays fueled by beauty
How can I pair with you, for I lack a heart
The sound of the pan ling[3] clear and melodious; the lights between the curtains shone dimly
We were meant for each other



沒了你才算原罪
méi le nǐ cái suàn yuán zuì

沒了心才好相配
méi le xīn cái hǎo xiāng pèi

你襤褸我彩繪   並肩行過山與水
nǐ làn lǚ wó cǎi huì / bìng jiān xíng guò shān yú shuǐ

你憔悴 我替你明媚
nǐ qiáo cuì wǒ tì nǐ míng mèi


It would be a sin if I lose you
It’s exactly because I lack a heart that I am a good match for you
You in tatters, while I in painted brilliance; side by side we walked through mountains and waters
Though you appear haggard, I will shine for you



是你吻開筆墨   染我眼角珠淚
shì nǐ wěn kāi bǐ mò / rán wǒ yán jiǎo zhū lèi

演離合相遇悲喜為誰
yǎn lí hé xiāng yù bēi xǐ wèi shéi

他們迂回誤會   我卻只由你支配
tā mén yū huí wù huì / wǒ què zhí yóu nǐ zhī pèi

問世間哪有更完美
wèn shì jiān ná yǒu gèng wán měi


You were the one who kissed your brush and pen, and dyed the teardrop at the tail of my eye
For whom do we put on dramas of partings and unions, sadness and happiness?
They will misunderstand, but I will only be in your hands
Is there anything more perfect in this world?



[Aki]

蘭花指捻紅塵似水
lán huā zhǐ niǎn hóng chén sì shuǐ

三尺紅台   萬事入歌吹
sān chǐ hóng tái / wàn shì rù gē chuī

唱別久悲不成悲   
chàng bié jiǔ bēi bù chéng bēi

十分紅處竟成灰
shí fēn hóng chù jìng chéng huī

願誰記得誰   最好的年歲
yuàn shéi jì dé shéi / zuì hǎo de nián suì


With the opera hand pose[4], the water-like mortal world is pinched and twisted between fingers
On the red platform one meter tall[5], having all stories told in songs
Singing farewell, it’s no longer called sadness when sadness prolongs[6]; magnificent red reduced to ash grey
I wish we would all remember, the best years we had together.



[銀臨]

你一牽我舞如飛
nǐ yì qiān wó wǔ rú fēi

你一引我懂進退
nǐ yì yǐn wó dǒng jìn tuì

苦樂都跟隨   舉手投足不違背
kǔ lè dōu gēn suí / jú shǒu tóu zú bù wéi bèi

將謙卑   溫柔成絕對
jiāng qiān bēi / wēn róu chéng jué duì


As you tug the strings you send me dancing in the air
As you lead I know how to go forth and back
In thick and thin I shall follow; be it my arms or legs you move, I will not disobey
Perfecting humility and gentleness



你錯我不肯對   你懵懂我蒙昧
nǐ cuò wǒ bù kěn duì / nǐ méng dǒng wǒ méng mèi

心火怎甘心揚湯止沸
xīn huó zěn gān xīn yáng tāng zhǐ fèi

你枯我不曾萎   你倦我也不敢累
nǐ kū wǒ bù céng wěi / nǐ juàn wó yě bù gǎn lèi

用什麼暖你一千歲
yòng shén mè nuán nǐ yì qiān suì


If you are wrong I refuse to be right; if you are muddled, I am ignorant
How can the fire in my heart be happy to cease to boil
If you wilt I’ll never wither; if you are tired I dare not be fatigued
What can I use to warm you for a thousand years



[Aki]

風雪依稀秋白髮尾
fēng xuě yī xī qiū bái fà wěi

燈火葳蕤   揉皺你眼眉
dēng huǒ wēi ruí / róu zhòu ní yǎn méi

假如你舍一滴淚   
jiǎ rú ní shě yì dī lèi

假如老去我能陪
jiǎ rú lǎo qù wǒ néng péi

煙波裡成灰   也去得完美
yān bō lǐ chéng huī / yě qù dé wán měi


The blizzard vaguely resembles the whitened ends of your hair
The lights shone with lush brilliance, rubbing creases between your brows
If you are willing to give up one single teardrop
If I can be your company when you are old
Even if I am reduced to ash in a stream of smoke[7], I’d be perfectly happy to go.




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Footnotes:

1.       肃拜 is a gesture of respect performed by women, and is based on traditional rites. Image:
wapbaike.baidu.com/view/958846.htm?uid=4638384E449FF8FBF5F34DFD4D906853&bd_page_type=1&st=1&step=1&net=3&ldr=-1

2.       is a bamboo basket/cage, in the story it is used to contain the fuel for fire to burn.

3.     盤鈴(盘玲)Pan ling is an instrument used for the music accompanying puppet show performances. Pictures: http://baike.baidu.com/view/221141.htmv

4.    (兰)花指 or “orchid flower fingers” is a hand pose that is used to be a masculine gesture. The pose evolved overtime to become feminine, or displayed in opera show performances.

5.       三尺 or 3 feet (Chinese unit) is modernly defined as 1/3 meter, so 3 feet = 1 meter.

6.   萬事入歌吹”,“ 唱別久悲不成悲” I’m not sure if I grasped the meaning of these 2 phrases here correctly, just to note. The translations for these may be incorrect.

7.       I’m not too sure what 葳蕤 means in this context. In ancient writings this adjective is used to illustrate how plants hanging their branches down in clusters.

8.    煙(烟)波, according to Baidu, is used to describe the mist above the surface of the lake, but I’m guessing in this case it means the smoke from the fire. 


Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the pinyin annotations and translations.


EDIT (4/11/2018):- Changes made to translation based on audience input  

16 comments:

  1. Hi Speck,

    Glad I found your translation as I am a big fan of alternative bands. Real impressed with your thoroughness and flexibility in both languages (since I probably couldn't do any better ^^;). Anyway I look forward to your future entries and good luck with your future endeavors.

    Cheers~

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there ba2ba,

    Thank you so much for you compliment!!! >//w//< wow... honestly I never really expected people to take notice of this, because these kinds of songs are virtually unheard of where I live. Glad to know there are more people out there who like this style of music!

    All the best for you too! Hope my entries can be helpful for you, I will do my best ^w^ [p.s. working on another song at the moment, so I hope it won't take too long]

    Thank you once again!

    Regards,
    Speck

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Speck, your translation of this song is really amazing, i love this song very much and i was trying to find an accurate translation, thank you so much it helped me a lot.
    I'm also a great fan of this kind of chinese ancient style music. I humbly would like to ask you if you could do the translation of a song called 半壶纱, and the artist called 刘珂矣, is quite known in china but not so much.
    It would be really great to have the translation of this song. Sorry for my bad english.

    Best regards and thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind compliments (I know it's been a long while!) I'm glad this helped you.
      Coincidentally, I had considered translating that particular song not long ago. If time permits, I may be able to get to it. Cheers!

      Delete
  4. Well I found this just when I was about to translate it into English.
    I was really impressed by your language skills, your translation is just bravo. I am so glad that such beautiful song that represents chinese culture can be known by more people

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG i am so happy for the lyric.. i love the song from the very first note... and the meaning (translation) makes me more and more falling in love... thank you... 再一次说。。 谢谢你。。 爱死了这首歌。。

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rico, I'm happy to hear that this translation helped you appreciate the song better. Songs with stories are the best, aren't they? Thanks again for your kind words!

      Delete
  6. Ah I am so happy to find this site. I am looking for this for years jk. But still, it's a long, hard time for me since I'm not good in chinese. I am truly happy since this is my favourite song. By finding the pinyin lyrics.. I am jumping in happiness. THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really glad you found it useful! ^_^ Thank you for your kind words!

      Delete
  7. it's just my thoughts,this songs dosen't fully follow the Classical Chinese grammar,so the two sentenceces "“萬事入歌吹”,“ 唱別久悲不成悲”" is incorrect.Considering the factors that lyricists like Japanese animation,in fact,I believe that the"吹"comes from the japanese Chinese character using:"吹替",which means "Dubbing".Here the"吹" changes its meaning to be "showing the story".the"萬事入歌吹" meaning "Performing all the joys and sorrows of the world" may be more accurate.

    ReplyDelete
  8. And "葳蕤"is a rare word in modern Chinese,I think it comes from one of the 《汉乐府诗》(Han Yuefu poem)(it's a really really old book,older than most dynasties),the poetry is 《孔雀东南飞》,it has a verse "妾有绣腰襦,葳蕤自生光",which approximately means "I have a skirt with embroidery,and the embroidery/skirt is shining by itself."Here “葳蕤”describes the candlelight's luxuriant.
    Cause my English is bad ,I don't know if I express clearly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's very interesting. I hadn't known it was taken from classical literature, and in the other case, from Japanese phrases. With unfamiliar vocabulary like that I tend to fall back to Baidu, which proves inadequate in this case. Thanks for your input!

      Delete
  9. . An old friend of mine wrote a new book about a new technology and he wanted to recruit some followers in China. The first step was to get his book translated into Chinese. Where to get the best team for the language translation. He was lucky that ACE CHINESE TRANSLATION delivered a perfect job for him, and his book became a hot hit in Chinese market.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey Speck,

    I stumbled across your page and just wanted to say, thank you so much for your translations! This is definitely one of my favorite songs, and your translation really do it so much justice. It's so beautiful and poetic that I even became teary 😅
    Really appreciate your page. Cheers to your amazing work, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey there! Thanks very much! Those are some really kind words, glad you like it! I sure hope I did it justice, as the gap between classical Chinese and English is sometimes very challenging to bridge, but if these attempts help people enjoy these songs more, I consider it a win! ;D

      Delete