Listen to this article蜀道后期[1]
张说[2]
客[3]心争日月[4]，
来往预期程[5]。
秋风不相待[6]，
先至[7]洛阳城。
注释：
[1] 后期：误期，落后于预定的时间。
[2] 张说：洛阳人，做过唐玄宗的宰相。《千家诗》注说：“张说‘与友自蜀而归，间道相期同入东都。公有事失期，而此人先归，故赠以诗也。言为客之归欲早，虽先归一日，亦以为快。是以与子订期，携手同入于洛。不意秋风趁子之便，不待我而已先入洛，则我之后期可知也。’”诗人急于归家，却怪秋风先回，富有幽默感。这首诗还说明了古人的家庭观念很重。
[3] 客：旅客，诗人自称。
[4] 争日月：形容抓紧时间。
[5] 预期程：预先计算好行程时间。
[6] 待：等待。
[7] 至：到达。
My Delayed Departure for the Capital
Zhang Yue
My heart vies with the sun in speed;
I count the days my journey need.
The autumn wind won’t wait for me;
It arrives there where I would be.
《蜀道后期》是唐朝大臣张说的诗作。此诗前两句写作者力争按时回到洛阳，不料情况突变，秋前回洛阳的希望落空了，表现了心中的怅惘；后两句作者却绕开一笔，埋怨秋风无情，不等自己抢先到洛阳去了，抒写内心感触，点明题意。这样避开了率直无味的毛病，把本来无情的秋风人格化了，借抱怨秋风，抒发心中烦恼，含蓄委婉，耐人寻味。
The poem “My Delayed Departure for the Capital ” is a poem written by Zhang Yao, a minister of the Tang Dynasty. The first two lines of this poem are about the author’s efforts to return to Luoyang on time, but unexpectedly the situation has changed, and the hope of returning to Luoyang before autumn has been dashed, showing the despair in his heart; the second two lines are about the author’s complaint that the autumn wind is relentless, not waiting for himself to go to Luoyang first, expressing his inner feelings and pointing out the meaning of the title. This avoids the problem of straightforwardness and tastelessness, and personifies the originally unfeeling autumn wind, and expresses his worries by complaining about it, which is subtle and euphemistic and intriguing.
