Listen to this article刘艺 草书：崔颢《长干行》（其二）
【释文】家临九江水，来去九江侧。同是长干人，生小不相识。
【款识】崔颢长干行之二，刘艺。
【注释】长干行：乐府曲名。
【简析】
这两首抒情诗抓住了人生片断中富有戏剧性的一刹那，用白描的手法，寥寥几笔，就使人物、场景跃然纸上，栩栩如生。它不以任何色彩映衬，似墨笔画；它不用任何妆饰烘托，是幅素描；它不凭任何布景借力，犹如一曲男女声对唱；它截头去尾，突出主干，又很象独幕剧。题材是那样的平凡，而表现手法却是那样的不平凡。
先看第一首的剪裁：一个住在横塘的姑娘，在泛舟时听到邻船一个男子的话音，于是天真无邪地问一下：你是不是和我同乡？－就是这样一点儿简单的情节，只用“妾住在横塘”五字，就借女主角之口点明了说话者的性别与居处。又用“停舟”二字，表明是水上的偶然遇合，用一个“君”字指出对方是男性。那些题前的叙事，用这种一石两卵的手法，就全部省略了。诗一开头就单刀直入，让女主角出口问人，现身纸上，而读者也闻其声如见其人，绝没有茫无头绪之感。从文学描写的技巧看，“声态并作”，达到了“应有尽有，应无尽无”，既凝炼集中而又玲珑剔透的艺术高度。
不仅如此，在寥寥二十字中，诗人仅有口吻传神，就把女主角的音容笑貌，写得活灵活现。他不象杜牧那样写明“娉娉袅袅十三余”，也不象李商隐那样点出“十五泣春风，背面秋千下”。他只采用了问话之后，不待对方答复，就急于自报“妾住在横塘”这样的处理，自然地把女主角的年龄从娇憨天真的语气中反衬出来了。在男主角并未开口，而这位小姑娘之所以有“或恐是同乡”的想法，不正是因为听到了对方带有乡音的片言只语吗？这里诗人又省略了“因闻声而相问”的关节，这是文字之外的描写，所谓“不写之写”。
这首诗还表现了女主角境遇与内心的孤寂。单从她闻乡音而急于“停舟”相问，就可见她离乡背井，水宿风行，孤零无伴，没有一个可与共语之人。因此，他乡听得故乡音，且将他乡当故乡，就这样的喜出望外。诗人不仅在纸上重现了女主角外露的声音笑貌，而且深深开掘了她的个性和内心。
诗的语言朴素自然，有如民歌。民歌中本有男女对唱的传统，在《乐府诗集》中就称为“相和歌辞”。所以第一首女声起唱之后，就是男主角的答唱了。“家临九江水”答复了“君家何处住”的问题；“来去九江侧”说明自己也是风行水宿之人，不然就不会有这次的萍水相逢。这里初步点醒了两人的共同点。“同是长干人”落实了姑娘“或恐是同乡”的想法，原来老家都是建康（今江苏南京）长干里。一个“同”字把双方的共同点又加深了一层。这三句是男主角直线条的口吻。现在只剩最后一句了：只有五个字，该如何着墨？如用“今日得相识”之类的幸运之辞作结束，未免失之平直。诗人终于转过笔来把原意一翻：与其说今日之幸而相识，倒不如追惜往日之未曾相识。“生小不相识”五字，表面惋惜当日之未能青梅竹马、两小无猜，实质更突出了今日之相逢恨晚。越是对过去无穷惋惜，越是显出此时此地萍水相逢的可珍可贵。这一笔的翻腾有何等撼人的艺术感染力！
《长干曲》是南朝乐府中“杂曲古辞”的旧题。崔颢这两首诗继承了前代民歌的遗风，但既不是艳丽而柔媚，又非浪漫而热烈，却以素朴真率见长，写得干净健康。女主角的抒怀只到“或恐是同乡”为止，男主角的表情也只以“生小不相识”为限。这样的蕴藉无邪，是抒情诗中的上乘。
【Simple Translation】
These two lyrical poems capture a dramatic moment in life, using the technique of white description, a few strokes, so that the characters and scenes leap off the page, as vivid as life. It does not use any color, like ink and brush painting; it does not use any makeup to set it up, it is a sketch; it does not rely on any set to lend strength, as if a male and female voice duet; it cuts off the end, highlighting the main, and very much like a one-act play. The subject matter is so ordinary, but the expression is so extraordinary.
First of all, let’s look at the first cut: a girl who lives in Hengtang hears a man’s voice in the neighboring boat while rafting, so she innocently asks: Are you from the same town as me? -It is such a simple plot, and with only five words, “I live in Hengtang”, the gender and residence of the speaker are specified through the mouth of the heroine. The word “stopping the boat” is also used to indicate a chance encounter on the water, and the word “Jun” is used to point out that the other party is male. The narrative that precedes the title is omitted by using this technique of two eggs on one stone. The poem begins with a straightforward question, allowing the female protagonist to ask the person and appear on the page, and the reader hears her voice as if she were a person, without the sense of being at a loss. From the point of view of literary description techniques, the “sound and state” has reached the artistic height of “all there is, all there should be”, which is not only concentrated but also exquisite and transparent.
In addition, in only twenty words, the poet’s voice and appearance of the female protagonist are brought to life by the poet’s mere mouth. Unlike Du Mu, he does not state that “the girl is 13 years old”, or Li Shangyin, he does not point out that “the girl is 15 years old and weeps the spring breeze, and she is under the swing on the back”. He only adopts the treatment of “I live in Hengtang” after asking the question, without waiting for the other party’s reply, and then hastens to announce himself, which naturally contrasts the age of the heroine from her naive and innocent tone. The reason why the young girl has the idea of “perhaps she is from the same village” is that she has heard the other party’s words with his native accent. Here the poet omitted the joint of “asking each other because of the sound”, which is a description beyond the words, the so-called “writing without writing”.
The poem also shows the heroine’s situation and inner loneliness. From the fact that she heard the voice of her hometown and was eager to “stop the boat” to ask questions, it is clear that she was away from her hometown, living in the water and wind, alone and without a companion, without a person to talk with. Therefore, she is so happy to hear the sound of her hometown in another country and treat it as her hometown. The poet not only reproduces the heroine’s exposed voice and smile on the page, but also deeply explores her personality and heart.
The language of the poem is simple and natural, like a folk song. There is a tradition of male and female duet in folk songs, and it is called “the words of the song of harmony” in the “Collection of Poems of the Music House”. Therefore, after the first female voice starts to sing, it is time for the male lead to reply. “My home is near the water of Jiujiang River” answers the question of “Where does your home live”; “I come and go to the side of Jiujiang River” indicates that I am also a person who lives in the wind and water, otherwise there would not be this meeting. Here is the initial point that both of them have in common. “The same is Changgan people” to implement the girl “or fear is the same country” idea, the original home is Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) Changgan Lane. The word “the same” deepens the common ground between the two sides. These three lines are the tone of the male protagonist’s straight line. Now there is only the last sentence left: only five words, how to ink? If we end with a lucky phrase like “we met today”, it would be too flat. The poet finally turned to his pen and turned the original meaning around: instead of saying that we are fortunate to know each other today, we should regret that we never knew each other in the past. The poem “I did not know each other when I was a child” is a lament for the failure to meet the two children, but in essence, it highlights the regret of meeting each other today. The more the past is endlessly regretted, the more it shows the preciousness of meeting here and now. What a touching artistic influence this tumble has!
The “Long Dry Song” is an old title of the “Miscellaneous Quatrains and Ancient Rhymes” in the Southern Dynasty Music House. These two poems of Roy Cui inherited the legacy of the previous generation of folk songs, but they are neither florid and feminine, nor romantic and passionate, but simple and sincere, written in a clean and healthy manner. The heroine’s expression of emotion only ends with “I am afraid I am from the same hometown”, and the hero’s expression only ends with “I did not know each other at birth”. This is the best of the lyric poems.
