Li Bai Poem: Hard Is the Way of the World – 李白《行路难》

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Li Bai was a physically-impressive man of supreme intelligence, passion and sheer love of life, whose poems were known in China to high and low alike, and whose capacity for drinking was legendary.

 

行路难

李白

大道如青天,

我独不得出。

羞逐长安社中儿,

赤鸡白狗[1]赌梨粟。

弹剑作歌[2]奏苦声,

曳裾王门[3]不称情。

淮阴市井笑韩信[4]

汉朝公卿忌贾生[5]

君不见昔时燕家重郭隗[6]

拥彗折节[7]无嫌猜。

剧辛乐毅[8]感恩分,

输肝剖胆效英才。

昭王白骨萦蔓草,

谁人更扫黄金台[9]

行路难,归去来。

注释:

[1] 赤鸡自狗:指当时斗鸡走狗的博戏。

[2] 弹剑作歌:战国时齐公子孟尝君门下食客冯谖曾屡次弹剑作歌怨己不如意。《史记》:“冯谖闻孟尝君好客,蹑履而见之,孟尝君置传舍十日,孟尝君问传舍长曰:客何所为,答曰:冯先生甚贫,犹有一剑耳。又蒯缑,弹其剑而歌曰:长铗归来乎,食无鱼。孟尝君迁之幸舍,食有鱼矣。五日又问传舍长,答曰:客复弹剑而歌曰:长铗归来乎,出无舆。孟尝君迁之代舍,出入乘舆车矣。五日孟尝君复问传舍长,答曰:先生又尝弹剑而歌曰:长铗归来乎,无以为家。盂尝君不悦。”

[3] 曳裾王门:寄食公卿王侯门下。裾,长裙。《汉书》:“邹阳曰:饰固陋之心,则何王之门不可曳长裾乎?”

[4] “淮阴”句:地名。即今江苏淮阴县。汉封韩信为淮阴侯,即此。韩信,汉初淮阴人,少时受辱胯下,全市皆笑韩信怯懦,后为大将。《史记》:“韩信淮阴人,淮阴屠中少年有侮信者,曰:若虽长大,好带刀剑,中情怯耳。众辱之曰:信能死,刺我,不能死,出我胯下。于是,信熟视之,俯出胯下,蒲伏。一市人皆笑信,以为怯。”

[5] 贾生:洛阳贾谊,曾上书汉文帝,劝其改制兴礼,受大臣反对。《史记》:“天子议以为贾生任公卿之位,绛、灌、东阳侯、冯敬之属尽害之,乃短贾生曰:洛阳之人,年少初学,专欲擅权,纷乱诸事。于是天子后亦疏之,不用其议。”

[6] 郭隗(wěi):战国时燕人,昭王筑台师事之,乐毅、剧辛等闻风而至,燕以大治。

[7] 拥彗折节:比喻谦恭下士。彗,扫帚。拥彗,长者未来之前,持帚扫尘,以示恭敬。折节,弯腰,降低身份,礼待臣下。燕昭王曾亲自扫路,恐灰尘飞扬,用衣袖挡帚,以礼迎贤士邹衍。《史记》:“邹衍如燕,燕昭王拥彗先驱。”

[8] 剧辛乐毅:皆战国时人。燕昭王招贤者,剧辛自赵往任国政。乐毅为燕昭王卿,率五国兵伐齐,下齐七十余城。

[9] 黄金台:在易水东南,燕昭王置千金于台上,以招揽天下士。

Hard Is the Way of the World

Li Bai

The way is broad like the blue sky,

But no way out before my eye.

I am ashamed to follow those who have no guts,

Gambling on fighting cocks and dogs for pears and nuts.

Feng would go homeward way, having no fish to eat;

Zhou did not think to bow to noblemen was to meet.

General Han was mocked in the market place;

The brilliant scholar, Jia was banished in disgrace.

Have you not heard of King of Yan in days gone by,

Who venerated talents and built Terrace high

On which he offered gold to gifted men

And stooped low and swept the floor to welcome them?

Grateful, Ju Xin and Yue Yi came then

And served him heart and soul, both full of stratagem.

The king’s bones were now buried, who would sweep the foot

And the Gold Terrace any more?

Hard is the way. Go back without delay!

The poet shows the way of the world was hard for talents like Feng, Zhou, Han, Jia. Only the King of Yan built a terrace to offer gold to talents, but he is no more now. So the poet says it would be better to go back without delay.

 

《行路难三首》是唐代大诗人李白的组诗作品。这三首诗抒写了诗人在政治道路上遭遇艰难后的感慨,反映了诗人在思想上既不愿与权贵同流合污又不愿独善一身的矛盾。正是这种无法解决的矛盾所激起的感情波涛使这组诗气象非凡。诗中跌宕起伏的感情,跳跃式的思维,以及高昂的气势,又使作品具有独特的艺术魅力,而成为后人广为传诵的千古名篇。

Three Poems on “Hard Is the Way of the World” is a group of poems by Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty. These three poems express the poet’s feelings after encountering hardships on the political road, reflecting the poet’s contradiction of not wanting to be in the company of the powerful and the rich but also not wanting to be alone. It is the waves of emotion stirred up by this unresolvable contradiction that make this group of poems extraordinary. The poem’s ups and downs, leaps of thought, and high momentum give the work a unique artistic charm, and it has become a famous poem widely recited by later generations.

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