Listen to this article念奴娇·昆仑
一九三五年十月
KUNLUN
–to the tune of Nien Nu Chiao
October 1935
横空出世，
莽昆仑，
阅尽人间春色。
飞起玉龙三百万，
搅得周天寒彻。
夏日消溶，
江河横溢，
人或为鱼鳖。
千秋功罪，
谁人曾与评说？
Far above the earth, into the blue,
You, wild Kunlun, have seen
All that was fairest in the world of men.
Your three million white jade dragons in flight*
Freeze the sky with piercing cold.
In summer days your melting torrents
Flood the streams and rivers,
Turning men into fish and turtles.
Who has passed judgement on the good and ill
You have wrought these thousand autumns?
而今我谓昆仑：
不要这高，
不要这多雪。
安得倚天抽宝剑，
把汝裁为三截？
一截遗欧，
一截赠美，
一截还东国。
太平世界，
环球同此凉热。
To Kunlun now I say,
Neither all your height
Nor all your snow is needed.
Could I but draw my sword o’ertopping heaven,
I’d cleave you in three:
One piece for Europe,
One for America,
One to keep in the East.
Peace would then reign over the world,
The same warmth and cold throughout the globe.
*AUTHOR’S NOTE:
An ancient poet said: “While the three million white jade dragons were fighting, the air was filled with their tattered scales flying.” Thus he described the flying snow. I have borrowed the image to describe the snow-covered mountains. In summer, when one climbs to the top of Minshan, one looks out on a host of mountains, all white, undulating as in a dance. Among the local people a legend was current to the effect that all these mountains were afire until the Monkey King borrowed a palm leaf fan and quenched the flames, so that the mountains turned white.
