[English translation] 不老梦 - Unaging dream

作詞/文案 (Lyrics/Story)：慕清明 (Mu Qing Ming)

作曲/演唱 (Music/Vocal)：銀臨 (Yin Lin)

編曲/混音 (Arrange/Mix)：灰原窮 (Hui Yuan Qiong)

二胡 (Erhu)：EZ-Ven

文案：

終南有墳，名不老。客奇之，問何故，言乃淮南翁主媗塚。

元光二年上巳，媗於渭水之濱遇振翊將軍韓衿，悅之。明年，河水決濮陽，上發卒十萬救決河，使衿督。媗送別，訴心意。衿以其年尚幼，婉拒之。

後三年，衿戍定襄，媗托尺素，書：妾已及笄。

復三年，媗隨姊陵探長安，約結上左右。每逢衿，且喜且怯。

又三年，媗疾，久不愈。衿隨大將軍青擊匈奴，媗恐不復見，追大軍十余里，終力竭。嗆血白衣，形銷骨立。

元狩元年，淮南衡山事發，陵媗皆下獄。衿欲面之，叩未央宮，額血流地，上弗允。媗殞，衿親葬於終南。後長安有歌曰：塋塋蔓草，歲歲不老；風雨如晦，死生為誰。

終南有墳，名不老。

Story:

There’s this grave on Mount Zhong Nan. People call it “The Unaging”.

A curiosity for travelers, they often asked the story behind it. They’d be told the tale of a young noble lady, who was the daughter to the lord of Huai Nan, and whose grave it belongs to.

The story began during the Double Third festival, in the second year of Yuan Guang. Noble lady Liu Xuan came across young General Han Jin by the river of Wei. She took a liking to him.

Another year passed. Raging floods ravaged the city of Pu Yang. The emperor ordered an emergency relief troop, and named Han Jin their commander. As Xuan sent the general on his way, she confessed her feelings for him. He declined her politely on the grounds of her tender age.

Three years passed. The general was then stationed at the city of Ding Xiang. Liu Xuan wrote to him: I’ve reached the age for marriage.

Another three years passed. Liu Xuan and her sister Liu Ling visited the capital Chang An by the orders of their father. They were to bring back news from the capital and befriend noblemen close to the emperor. She got to meet Han Jin in person once again, unable to stifle the overwhelming joy and nerves whenever she faced him.

Yet another three years passed. Liu Xuan fell ill, and recovery seemed far in sight. Han Jin joined the Great General in their military campaign against the Huns. Terrified that she’ll never see him again, she ran after the army for a full three miles, exhausting every last bit of her strength. Coughed blood stained her white robe, and her skeletal frame stood weak in the wind.

First year of Yuan Shou, the rebellion of Huai Nan broke out. Both sisters were thrown into prison. Han Jin pleaded mercy for Liu Xuan. So fervent was his appeal, his forehead bled after countless knocks against the palace floor. Mercy never came.

And so Liu Xuan died in prison. Han Jin oversaw the funeral himself and buried her on Mount Zhong Nan.

Later, such a song was circulated in Chang An:

Grass flourishes over her grave,

Year after year they never age;

Dark rains and winds cannot persuade,

For whose sake, her life she gave.

So there’s this grave on Mount Zhong Nan. People call it “The Unaging”.

***

等不到鬓雪相拥
重饮渭水畔那一盏虔诚
终究是绸缪青冢
替我将灞桥柳供奉

I am no longer here to wait, the embrace we’re due when our heads grow white
And once again down our cups by the waterfront, brimmed with our sincere exchange

In the end it’s only a prelude to the green burial mound
I plead you to offer a willow branch for my sake

来世再漱月鸣筝
也许还能道声久别珍重
天意总将人捉弄
怎奈何身不由己情衷

In our next life, let’s pluck our zithers under the rinsed moon
Perhaps then we can wish each other “so long, take care”
The will of heaven always toys with humans
It can’t be helped, when we have little say in our fate

于万人中万幸得以相逢
刹那间澈净明通
成为我所向披靡的勇气和惶恐
裂山海 堕苍穹

Fortune granted our union amidst a crowd of ten thousand
And at that very moment, everything was made clear
You’ve became my unbeatable courage and fear
Splitting mountains and sea, falling heaven and sky

爱若执炬迎风
炽烈而哀恸
诸般滋味皆在其中

Love is a torch raised on a march against the wind
A blazing spectacle, yet immensely sad
Mixed within emotions of every sort


韶华宛转吟诵
苍凉的光荣
急景凋年深情难共

My youth sang melodious tunes of
A desolate glory
So hurriedly the years wilt, there’s hardly enough left to share our deep passions

倏忽天地琉璃灯

光阴过处徒留皎月几盅

温柔了十方春冬

眷你眉目在我眼瞳

A sudden recollection struck, of flickering crystal lamps that filled our sight
Of many nights past with bowls of moonlight
Of the gentle warmth you gave through spring till winter
And of your features reflected in my eyes.

彼时击节讴新声

唱彻白首之约抱柱之盟

摩肩人步履匆匆

多少相遇能有始有终

By the festive beats of music that time

We sang our hearts out, of our vows of reunion
So hurriedly people shuffle by, shoulders brushing as they pass

How many meetings receive their worthy ends?

若要忘却年少轻狂的痛
从此后分赴西东
不如作蜉蝣麻衣霜染淋漓死生
恣朝暮 彀长空

Should we yearn to forget the pain of our unruly youth
and of our partings thereafter
We shall be mayflies, revelling in death and life

So to set ourselves free from the constraints of time, rising above the sky

卸去人间妆红
我终于读懂
痴心熬尽才可倾城

With adornments lifted from the realm of man

I finally understood
Only through dogged persistence can one hope to move the world

唯有亘古寒峰
能安葬浮生
至死不渝的一场梦

And only the mountain peaks, ancient and cold
Can rest mortal souls
It is a dream I remained loyal till death

　　

天光落笔波折
岁月都干涸
只剩别离来不及说

The sky cast its wavering fingers of light
Bringing about a draught of time
The only thing left unsaid is a goodbye

宁愿折心沐火
舍不得勘破
是你唇边夜雨清荷

I’d rather break my heart and bathe in flames
Than to break the thought
Of night’s drizzle and water lilies by your side

***

Footnotes:

This is a fictitious story set in the Western Han dynasty. The rebellion of Huai Nan was a historical event recorded in “Shi Ji” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_of_the_Grand_Historian), but Liu Xuan and Han Jin are characters created for this story.  

Double third festival (Shang Si) is an ancient festival on the third day of the third month on the Chinese calendar to celebrate the birth of Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor). It’s also a festival where single men and women were free to mingle, so it was sort of an equivalent to the ancient Chinese version of Valentine’s day. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Third_Festival

The willow branch mentioned in the translation is plucked from the Bridge of Ba in Chang An, allegedly the place where many people held their farewells whenever someone left the cities. Interestingly, “willow” (柳 - liu) is a homophone to “stay” (留). As a custom people offered the departing person a branch of willow to express their wish for them to stay. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%81%9E%E6%A1%A5/1945367

Since I wasn’t able to fully understand the ancient-styled text in which the story was written, I looked it up. The story translated to modern Chinese is in this link. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%8D%E8%80%81%E6%A2%A6

Again, this translation is rather heavily tweaked for the sake of coherence and flow. Some of it will come across weird, I think, if I translated it word for word. E.g. The last line “of night’s drizzle and water lilies by your side” is actually “by your lips”. But the imagery of water lilies by a person’s lips is… well.

Anyway, hope that was fun for you guys. Cheers and have a good day!

[Also, Blogger's formatting is driving me insane. I'm sorry if the text comes out messy, I tried to even out the spacing a few times but every time I publish, it goes all wonky. This isn't the only problem I've encountered so far and it takes me way too much time just to fix them. In fact, this I had to manually adjust to fit their arbitrary spacing for the published version that refuse to match the draft, and it's simply maddening (this thing eats algebra for breakfast, I suspect). If this goes on (i.e. I get sufficiently pissed) I may consider moving to other sites.]

*I own nothing but the translations.