Listen to this article费新我 行书：寒山《城中蛾眉女》
【释文】城中娥眉女，珠佩珂珊珊。鹦鹉花前弄，琵琶月下弹。长歌三月响，短舞万人看。未必长如此，芙蓉不耐寒。
【款识】高僧寒山诗，甲子冬日。新我左笔。
【简析】
寒山，是唐初的一位隐逸山林的有名诗僧。他的诗常以明白如话和富哲理性的语言，写山水景物，也有不少讽喻人情世态之作，此诗即属于后一类。
这首诗语言通俗浅显，用的却是当时流行的五言律诗格调，平仄谐律，对仗工稳，具有时代特色。诗人针对尘俗繁华世态，进行讽刺冷嘲，隐寓佛家哀乐相生，万事皆空的禅理。
开始两句，描绘一位城中美女的花容月貌和华贵盛妆。“蛾眉”，素来是形容美女的代词。“珠佩”，是概括人物全身珠光宝气的神态。“珊珊”，佩带珠玉所发出的响声。两句诗把这位美丽盛妆的姑娘写得有声有色，光彩照人，渲染荣华富贵的场面。三四两句描写她在家早晚不同的富贵闲雅生活，由上下两句分写。
白天，她在自家花园里对花调戏鹦鹉逗趣，夜间，静坐幽美的月下弹起五音繁会的琵琶而自得其乐。五六句则表现她那出色的社交活动，每逢出现在宴会场面，无论是长歌，或是短舞，总是使得人们久久陶醉，万人倾羡。然而，这一切都是浮云流水似地不能久住，无可留恋，因为所有事物都离不开生死轮回、盛衰兴替的自然规律。于是诗人悯然发出警告：“未必长如此，芙蓉不耐寒！”借用夏天盛开的荷花作象征，冷峻诫谕人们：别看夏天的芙蓉开得红火，秋风一起，很快就会荷盖枯尽，菡萏香消，一切美景都不可能永远存在啊！
此诗借“城中蛾眉女”的冶容才技，比喻人间高贵荣华，以“芙蓉不耐寒”的“花无百日红”比喻“人无千日好”的好景有限，言近旨远，形象生动，阐扬了佛家哲理，也起着讽时警世作用，不失释子本色。又将当时兴起的约句准篇的五律形式加以通俗化，可谓善于妙用。
【Simple Translation】
Hanshan was a famous poet and monk who lived in seclusion in the mountains in the early Tang Dynasty. His poems are often written in a clear and philosophical language about landscapes and scenery, and there are also many satirical works about human feelings and worldly conditions.
The language of this poem is common and simple, but it is in the popular five-line rhythmic poetic style of the time. The poet makes a satirical and cynical reference to the world of mundane prosperity, implying the Buddhist Zen theory that all things are empty.
In the first two lines, the poet depicts a beautiful woman in the city with a beautiful face and luxurious makeup. The word “moth eyebrows” has always been a synonym for beautiful women. “Beads and pearls” is a summary of the character’s pearly demeanor. “Shanshan” is the sound made by the pearls and jade. The two stanzas portray the girl in beautiful makeup with sound and brilliance, rendering the scene of glory and wealth. The third and fourth lines describe her rich and leisurely life at home in the morning and evening, which are divided into two lines.
In the daytime, she teases the parrot with flowers in her garden, and at night, she sits quietly under the beautiful moon and plays the five tones of the pipa and enjoys herself. The fifth and sixth lines show her excellent social activities, and whenever she appears at a banquet, whether it is a long song or a short dance, she always makes people enchanted for a long time and envied by millions of people. However, all this is like floating clouds and flowing water that cannot stay for a long time, because all things are inseparable from the natural law of the cycle of life and death, the rise and fall of prosperity. So the poet warned with pity: “It may not be so long, the hibiscus is not resistant to cold!” Using the lotus flower in full bloom in summer as a symbol, the poet sternly warns the people: Don’t look at the hibiscus blooming in summer, but when the autumn wind blows, the lotus cover will soon wither and the Nymphaea fragrance will disappear!
The poem draws an analogy between the beauty and talent of the “moth-browed girl in the city” and the nobility and glory of the world, and the fact that “the hibiscus does not endure the cold” and “flowers are not red for a hundred days”. The good scenery of “no one is good for a thousand days” is limited, the words are near and far, the image is vivid, and the Buddhist philosophy is expounded, and it also plays the role of irony and warning the world, without losing the essence of Shi Zi. It also popularizes the five-rhythm form that was emerging at that time, which can be said to be a good use.
