沈曾植 行书:孟浩然《夜渡湘水》
【释文】客行贪利涉,夜里渡湘川。露气闻芳杜,歌声识采莲。榜人投暗火,渔子宿潭烟。行旅时相问,浔阳何处边。
【款识】孟襄阳诗,东轩老人。
【简析】
这首诗,大约作于开元十五年( 727)之前,游湘桂的路上。诗人三十六岁左右曾到湖南去探望他的好友袁太祝。本诗叙述夜渡湘水时的所见、所感,表现出诗人的淡雅、闲适以及对渔村生活的赞赏。
“客行贪利涉,夜里渡湘川”。诗人为贪赶路程,急于渡河而错过了宿处,只好在夜里乘船渡湘水了。
诗人用白描手法记述了匆匆赶路的情况,(“利涉”,语出《易经》:“利涉大川。”)同时也点明了题目。
“露气闻芳杜,歌声识采莲。”因为是夜渡,对于周围的一切看不清楚,但是,野草的芳香,却带着露水的潮润扑鼻而来,远处不时传来悠扬、清脆的歌声,那是采莲女劳动中的欢声笑语。
“榜人投岸火,渔子宿潭烟。”撑船人看到了对岸的光亮,以为是江边渔村,就把船向火光处驶去,等到了近前,才发现原来是渔人夜宿潭边,燃起的烟火。这两句是视觉所见,把渔家生活形象地展现在了读者面前。
“行侣时相问,涔阳何处边?”一个“时”字,表达出诗人的急切心情。因为诗人急于见到久别的好友,不时地问船夫,涔阳在什么地方?何时才能到达?
连夜行舟诗人还嫌慢,可见他当时心情是何等急切。
“涔阳”,在今湖南澧县涔阳浦。《九歌·湘君》有“望涔阳兮极浦,横大江兮扬灵”之句,诗人因联想及此而发问。
全诗记叙自然,情感真挚而恬淡,反映渔村生活的宁静、和乐,描述采莲女和渔夫的劳动情景,生动真实。
【Simple Translation】
This poem was written before the 15th year of the Kaiyuan era (727), when he was on his way to Hunan and Guizhou. The poet was about thirty-six years old when he visited his friend Yuan Taizhu in Hunan. The poem describes what he saw and felt while crossing the Xiang River at night, showing the poet’s lightness and leisure and his appreciation of the life in the fishing village.
”The poem is about the poet’s leisure and his appreciation of the life in a fishing village. The poet was in a hurry to cross the river and missed the place to stay, so he had to cross the Xiang River by boat at night.
The poet uses white description to describe the situation of hurrying on the way. The poet also points out the title.
”The dewy air smells the fragrant dew, and the song knows how to pick the lotus.” Because it was a night crossing, we could not see everything around us clearly, but the fragrance of the wild grasses came to our noses with the dewy moisture, and from time to time, the melodious and crisp singing came from afar, which was the laughter of the lotus-picking women in their labor.
”The listers cast fire on the shore, the fishermen sleep in the smoke of the pool.” The boatman saw the light on the other side of the river and thought it was a fishing village, so he sailed the boat towards the fire, and when he got closer, he realized that it was a fisherman staying at the pool at night, and the fire was lit. These two lines are a visual representation of the fishermen’s life in front of the reader.
”When the couple ask each other, where is the edge of the sun?” The word “when” expresses the poet’s eagerness. Because the poet is anxious to see his long-lost friend, he asks the boatman from time to time, “Where is the sunset? When will he arrive?
The poet was still too slow to travel by boat in the night, so it can be seen how anxious he was at that time.
”The poet was so anxious at that time. The poet asked the question because he thought of it.
The whole poem is a natural narrative with sincere and quiet emotions, reflecting the tranquility and happiness of fishing village life, and describing the labor of lotus-picking women and fishermen in a vivid and realistic way.