孔雀东南飞英文
甘肃政法学院-考试祝福短信
The Bride of Jiao Zhongqing
Southeast
the love-lorn peacock flies. Alack,
At every
mile she falters and looks back!
At thirteen
years Lanzhi learned how to weave;
At
fourteen years she could embroider, sew;
At
fifteen music on her lute she made;
At
sixteen knew the classics , prose and verse,
At seventeen they wed her to Zhongqing,
And from that day what joy and pain were hers!
As work kept Zhongqing in the yamen far,
His absence made her love the deeper still.
She started weaving at the dawn of day,
Worked at the loom until the midnight hour.
The tapestries beneath her fingers grew,
Yet Zhongqing's mother sore berated her--
Not for poor work or any tardy pace,
But
she was mistress:brides must know their place.
At length in sorrow to Zhongqing she said,
Useless to say....Please go and tell her
so.
Should she think fit, I fain would go
away.
The husband shame-faced , on this
errand went.
To wed Lanzhi was more than
I deserved.
As man and wife we love each
other so
That naught but death itself shall
server us.
Less than three years have we been
wedded now;
Our life together is a budding
flower.
Lanzhi me thinks ,has done her
best,no less.
Why treat her, then, with such
unkindliness?
To which the shrewish mother
made reply,
Your wife lacks graces and
she lacks good sense.
See her for what she is
, self-willed and vain.
The very sight of her
offends my eyes.
I wonder that you dare to
plead her cause!
A proper wife I have in mind
for you...
Yonder she lives, a maid called
Qin Luofu,
A matchless beauty, upon my word,
And I have ways to compass her consent.
Now listen! We must get your slut away!
Yes, go must she, and go without delay!
For filial piety he knelt down,
And
pitiful yet firm was his appeal.
But do not think that I will marry twice!
At this the mother's fury knew no bounds.
She ranted wildly, strumming on her stool:
Defend a wife and flout a mother's wish?
This stranger in the house I will not bear,
And none henceforth to thwart my will shall
dare!
Zhongqing fell dumb before his mother's
rage,
Made her a bow profound and went his
way.
In tears and sorrow he sought poor
Lanzhi,
Though little cmfort for them both he
knew.
And yet my mother will not be
gainsaid.
My duties at the yamen call me
hence.
Tis best you go back ato your
brother's home.
My yamen tasks complete, I
will return
And take you with me to our home
again.
It has to be,alas! Forgive me now,
And doubt not I will keep my solemn vow!
Lanzhi made answer sorrowful and low:
'Twas in the depth of winter, I recall,
I
first came to this house a timid bride.
I
bore myself with filial reverence,
Was never
obstinase, self-willed or rude.
For three
years, day and night , I toiled for her,
Nor
heeded how long that sorry state might last,
My only care to serve your mother's will
And to repay the love you bore to me.
Yet
from this house I now am driven out....
To
what avail to bring me back again?
I'll leave
my broidered jacket of brocade,
(Its golden
lacings still are fresh and bright,)
My
small, soft canopy of scarlet gauze
With
perfumed herbs sewn in its corners four.
My
trunks, my dowry, too, I leave behind,
As
fair as ever in their silken wraps---
Things,
some of them, I had a fancy for,
Though now
neglected and untouched they lie.
True, they
are only cheap and tawdry wares,
Not nearly
good enough for your new bride.
But you may
share them out as tiny gifts,
Or, if you find
no fit occasion now,
Keep them, my
dear,
When the loud cock-crow maked
another day
Lanzhi arose betimes and dressed
herself.
She put on her embroidered skirt of
silk,
And silken slippers pleasing to the
eye,
Studded her braided locks with
jewellery,
Hung pearly earring in her little
ears,
With touch so delicate applied the
rouge
Until her lips, already perfect,
glowed.
Her fingers had a tapering
loveliness,
Her waist seemed like a many-
coloured cloud.
A peerless beauty did she
look, and sweet
The grace with which she
moved her little feet.
To Zhongqing's mother
then she bade farewell
In tender words that
found a churlish ear:
Not well
instructed and not well brought-up.
Stupid
and shallow and inept am I---
A sorry mate
for any noble heir.
Yet you have treated me
with kindliness,
And I ,for shame , have not
served you well.
This house for evermore
today I leave,
And that I cannot serve you
more I grieve.
Then, trickling down her cheeks
warm tears,
She bade farewell to Zhongqing's
sister dear:
Dear sister, you wer just a
naughty child.
See, you have grown well nigh
as tall as I.
Now I must bid a hasty , long
farewell;
Yet,if you love me,sister, for my
sake,
Be gentle to your mother, care for her.
When all the maidens hold their festivals,
Forget not her who once looked after you.
With blinding tears and with a heavy heart
She took her seat then in the waiting cart.
For fear of prying eyes and cruel tongues
Zhongqing would meet her where the four roads
met.
On the rough road her carriage pitched
and shook,
The wheel-rims clattered and the
axle creaked.
Then suddenly a horseman
galloped up,
Down leaped the rider
eagerly---'twas he!
They sat together and he
whispered low:
Only a short while
with your brother stay,
The little while my
yamen duties take.
Then I'll come back...Let
not your heart be sore!
I'll claim you for my
very own once more!
Poor Lanzhi, sobbing ,
fondly plucked his sleeve.
Then come ,
but come before it is too late!
Be your love
strong, enduring as the rocks!
Be mine
resistant as the creeping vine!
For what more
fixed than the eternal rocks?
Yet when I
think upon my brother, lord
And tyrant of his
household , then I fear
He will not look on
me with kindliness,
And I shall suffer from
his rage and scorn.
At length in tears the
loving couple parted,
And lengthening
distance left them broken-hearted.
When
Lanzhi, all unheralded, reached home,
Doubt
and suspicion clouded every mind.
At thirteen, I recall, you learned to weave;
At fourteen you could embroider, sew;
At
fifteen, music on the lute you made;
At
sixteen knew the classics, prose and verse.
And then at seventeen, a lovely bride...
How proud I was to see you prosper so!
Yet, dear, you must have erred in deed or
word.
Tell me the cause of your return alone.
Said Lanzhi,
Yet in my duty did I never
fail.
The mother wept for pity at her tale.
Upon the tenth day after her return
There
came one frome the county magistrate,
A go-
between, to woo her for his son,
A lad who
had bare twenty summers seen,
Whose good
looks put all other youths to shame,
Whose
tongue was fluent and full eloquent.
Her
mother, hoping against hope,said,
I pray you,
if it pleases you, consent.
To which, in tears
again , Lanzhi replied:
He said , 'Be
faithful!' o'er and o' er again,
And we bothe
vowed eternal constancy.
If I should break my
word and fickle prove,
Remorse would
haunt me till my dying day.
Can I then think
to wed again? No ,no!
I pray you tell the
matchmaker so
So to the go-between the mother
said:
But lately sent back to her
brother's house.
A small official found her
no good match----
How should she please the
magistrate's own heir?
Besides, she is in
melancholy state:
Young gentlemen require a
gayer mate.
So the official go-between went
off
And , ere reporting to the magistrate,
Found for the sprig another fitting maid,
Born of a nearby family of note;
And ,
haply meeting withe the prefect's scrible,
Learned that His Excellecncy's son and heir,
A worhy , excellent and handsome youth,
Himself aspired to wed the fair Lanzhi.
So to the brother's house they came once more,
This time as envoys from the prefect sent.
The flowery, official greeting o'er,
They
told the special reason they had come.
The
mother,torn this way and that, declared
I
fear I know no way to change her mind.
But
Lanzhi's brother, ever worldly-wise,
Was
never slow to seize a heaven-sent chance,
And
to his sister spoke blunt words and harsh:
Your former husband held a petty post.
Now comes an offer from the prefect's son
A greater contrast would be hard to find.
Turn down this offer if you will, this prize,
But think not I shall find you daily rice!
What must be, must be, then thought poor
Lanzhi
I was a wife and now am none
again;
I left you once and then came back
again
To dwell beneath you hospitable roof.
Your will is such as cannot be gainsaid.
True, to Zhongqing I gave my plighted word,
Yet faint the hope of seeing him again!
Your counsel I must welcome as a boon:
Pray you ,arrange the ceremony soon.
When he heard this , the official go-
between
Agreed to everything the brother
asked.
Then to the Prefece's house they
hurried back
To tell the happy outcome of
their work.
It seemed so good a marriage for
his son,
The Prefect thought, that full of
sheer delight
He turned the pages of the
almanac,
And therein found the most
auspicious date
To be the thirtieth of that
same mohth.
Whereon he summoned his
subordinates: