该部分包括：一首做于现代的五言诗，四首融合了古典元素的现代歌词。
This part inclues: one quatrain written in contemporary society, four contemporary lyrics composed with classical elements.
《九阳真经》 金庸
他强由他强，
清风拂山岗。
他横任他横，
明月照大江
“Mantra of The Ninefold Yang,” Jin Yong
He is strong; let him be.
A refreshing breeze traverses the eminence.
He is roughshod; let him be.
A bright moon illuminates the river of prominence.
《天行九歌》作词：沈乐平
“The Heaven Sings Nine Songs,” lyrics composed by Shen Leping
任侠平生愿
A knight-errant’s life-long wish
一叶边舟莲波滟
(Is to be) a leaf-boat
floating through beauteous lotus
秋水墨色染
The fall water dyed with black ink
不见美人眼波怜
Without reflecting Xishi’s eyes of love tenderly
故人久未见
Haven’t seen you for a long time, my friend
焚诗煮酒杯未满
(We) burn pieces, wine cups unfilled
风长卷
The wind scrolls
轻将红袖挽
(Her) red-sleeves lifted
请君三尺剑
(I wish) to borrow your three-feet sword
烽火城头沥肝胆
To train my courage, over the highest fortress that burns
借君三十年
(I wish) to lend you thirty years
繁花万里好江山
(To let you see) those great rivers and mountains
adorned by ten-thousand flowers
翻千册案卷
Glancing over millions of archives
迷雾遮眼心事高悬
(I am) confused and (my) concerns hang
惋叹史简笔艳
Pitifully sigh
They turned history into stories
添 一字决判
To add
A final sentence
千金不换
A million gold can not bargain (for my allegiance)
此生何用声声叹
In this life
Why sigh and sigh?
道不尽流年
Years flashing by
(You) fail to narrate
看流沙聚散
Witnessing the floating sands gather and separate
回首天涯路远
(I) turn back to see the road far away
英雄何用声声叹
To the heroes:
“Why sigh and sigh?”
断碑落残垣
The cracked monument fell on the fallen fortress
君不见青山
Don’t you see those young mountains
豪杰冢化尘烟
The graves of immortal turn into ashes
请君三尺剑
(I wish) to borrow your three-feet sword
烽火城头沥肝胆
To train my courage, over the highest fortress that burns
借君三十年
(I wish) to lend you thirty years
繁花万里好江山
(To let you see) those great rivers and mountains
adorned by ten-thousand flowers
翻千册案卷
Glancing over millions of archives
迷雾遮眼心事高悬
(I am) confused and (my) concerns hang
惋叹史简笔艳
Pitifully sigh
They turned history into stories
此生何用声声叹
In this life
Why sigh and sigh?
道不尽流年
Years flashing by
(You) fail to narrate
看流沙聚散
Witnessing the floating sands gather and separate
回首天涯路远
(I) turn back to see the road far away
英雄何用声声叹
To the heroes:
“Why sigh and sigh?”
断碑落残垣
The cracked monument fell on the fallen fortress
君不见青山
Don’t you see those young mountains
豪杰冢化尘烟
The graves of immortal turn into ashes
此生何用声声叹
In this life
Why sigh and sigh?
道不尽流年
Years flashing by
(You) fail to narrate
看流沙聚散
Witnessing the floating sands gather and separate
回首天涯路远
(I) turn back to see the road far away
英雄何用声声叹
To the heroes:
“Why sigh and sigh?”
断碑落残垣
The cracked monument fell on the fallen fortress
君不见青山
Don’t you see those young mountains
豪杰冢化尘烟
The graves of immortal turn into ashes
豪杰冢皆化
These graves of immortal all turn into
尘烟
Ashes.
This song comes from an anime adapted from a historical fiction called "The Lengend of Qin" 《秦时明月》written by an author called Wen Shiren 温世仁. The story's setting is the Warring State period and the beginning of Qin Dynasty, early in the history of ancinet China.
The anime has multiple seasons, but the song belongs to none of them. The work that the song comes from is called "The Heaven Sings Nine Songs"《天行九歌》, in the same title with the song. The anime could be seen as a prequel of the story happens in "The Lengend of Qin."
By the way, the lyrics of the song and the MV was both composed and created by Shen Leping, the director of the anime.
在这段路的尽头
At the end of this journey
就挥一挥手
Just to wave your hands
用这份遗憾 换笑对匆匆
Facing the transience
Turn this regret into smiles
恩怨翻腾不休
Requitals surge restlessly
听由苍生笑我痴梦
Let them laugh at my quixotic dreams
逍遥不够
Being carefree is not enough
山河慢慢游
(I’ll) stroll between mountains and rivers
残花戴雪中 行世如风
Flower, losing its petals, decorates (me) in snow
(I) stride through this world, like a storm
铁马轻骑歌颂 肝胆万山重
Iron-clad horses and light cavalries extol
(My) loyalty, heavy as ten-thousand mounts
举风霜与酒 斩断了俗世念头
Raise the wine cup, along with the wind and frost
Cut off mundane desires
一夜冬去 青丝到白首
The winter leaves, overnight
Hairs silk-black become snow-white
在这段路的尽头
At the end of this journey
就挥一挥手
Just to wave your hands
用这份遗憾 换笑对匆匆
Facing the transience
Turn this regret into smiles
恩怨翻腾不休
Requitals surge restlessly
听由苍生笑我痴梦
Let them laugh at my quixotic dreams
逍遥不够
Being carefree is not enough
山河慢慢游
(I’ll) stroll between mountains and rivers
长歌踏雪中 行世无恐
Sing a long song; step into the snow
(I) stride in this world without fear
消散爱恨于风 无欲也无求
Dissipate all the love and hate into the wind
Preserve no desire nor wish
天涯的渡口 一人陪马儿清瘦
The ferry, the end point of the earth
Only me, my tenuous horse therewith
多么富有 天下了心中
The whole world winding up within a heart, richly
烟雨红楼 不停留
The red chamber in the smoky rain
Will not make (me) stay
This song comes from a Chinese TV series called "Sword, Snow, Stride" 《雪中悍刀行》.
总角晏晏音 依稀在耳畔
The lively juvenile laughter
Sheerly lingers in my ears
何曾料 世事乱
How could I imagine the chaos afterwards?
唯余青衣飘摇难
(My) black garment was left
Sways with difficulty
前尘都忘却 何处可归返
The past are forgotten
How could I trace back?
明河影 长空湛
The river glitters and reflects
The sky wide and pure
拈花一笑尽安然
Pick a flower gently
Spend a smile to peace
天阔虹影 风荷轻转
The universe wide, the rainbow radiant
Lotus rotate with breeze
碧水顾盼 杨柳舒展
The jade water glides its sight
The willows stretches cozily
雕龙一掌 雨覆云翻
A palm that carves dragons
Rolls the dice of life
破而后立傲骨寒
Destruct the past to establish a new order
Awe the bones of pride
踏雁北 走江南
Step on the Realm of Goose, the North
Walk into the South where rivers flow
推杯换盏
(We) exchange many toasts
一朝恩怨都付笑谈
All the past chaos become laughter
苍生难 红尘乱
Common people bustle
Red dust hassles
但凭胸怀
With a great breadth of mind
一剑同悲定河山
Settling the rustling rivers and mounts
Eleos, my sword
也曾有 泪洒满
It once happened
My tears fully spilled
江海山川
Over plains and mountaintops
Into rivers and sea
一水澄澈此心不换
Like a water, clean with transparency
Nothing could exchange for my integrity
剑所向 道所在
My sword is pointing toward where the Way (Dao) lies
一身风流
Full of gallantry
一指春水晏然
A finger (wields power)
Spring water floats with vitality
逍遥行四海 高名满长安
Carefree, (I) stroll among the Four Oceans
My name is known in the capital
曾年少 堂前燕
不及策马江湖岸
I was young and bold
A comfortable life could not compare
With a horse ride along the great rivers and lakes
乱世多情仇 往事空纠缠
A chaotic world generates romance and fate
Old memories tangle with emptiness
羌笛韵 雁门关
The Qiang flute’s rhyme
The Goose Passway
蟠龙一梦黄泉畔
The dream of a curled-up dragon
Riverside of the Yellow Spring
塞上之月 关城之变
The moon above the battlefield
The incident of the border passway
抬眸一刹 故人眼前
Within a blink
An old friend in my vicinity
春风拂面 绿水山涧
The spring breeze pats my face
The green water, those brooks
半步峰底幸得缘
I must be fortunate
To know you under the Banbu Mount
逍遥行四海 高名满长安
Carefree, (I) stroll among the Four Oceans
My name is known in the capital
曾年少 堂前燕
不及策马江湖岸
I was young and bold
A comfortable life could not compare
With a horse ride along the great rivers and lakes
乱世多情仇 往事空纠缠
A chaotic world generates romance and fate
Old memories tangle with emptiness
羌笛韵 雁门关
The Qiang flute’s rhyme
The Goose Passway
蟠龙一梦黄泉畔
The dream of a curled-up dragon
Riverside of the Yellow Spring
塞上之月 关城之变
The moon above the battlefield
The incident of the border passway
抬眸一刹 故人眼前
Within a blink
An old friend in my vicinity
春风拂面 绿水山涧
The spring breeze pats my face
The green water, those brooks
半步峰底幸得缘
I must be fortunate
To know you under the Banbu Mount
踏雁北 走江南
Step on the Realm of Goose, the North
Walk into the South where rivers flow
推杯换盏
(We) exchange many toasts
一朝恩怨都付笑谈
All the past chaos become laughter
苍生难 红尘乱
Common people bustle
Red dust hassles
但凭胸怀
With a great breadth of mind
一剑同悲定河山
Settling the rustling rivers and mounts
Eleos, my sword
也曾有 泪洒满
It once happened
My tears fully spilled
江海山川
Over plains and mountaintops
Into rivers and sea
一水澄澈此心不换
Like a water, clean with transparency
Nothing could exchange for my integrity
剑所向 道所在
My sword is pointing toward where the Way (Dao) lies
一身风流
Full of gallantry
一指春水晏然
A finger (wields power)
Spring water floats with vitality
踏雁北 走江南
Step on the Realm of Goose, the North
Walk into the South where rivers flow
推杯换盏
(We) exchange many toasts
一朝恩怨都付笑谈
All the past chaos become laughter
苍生难 红尘乱
Common people bustle
Red dust hassles
但凭胸怀
With a great breadth of mind
一剑同悲定河山
Settling the rustling rivers and mounts
Eleos, my sword
也曾有 泪洒满
It once happened
My tears fully spilled
江海山川
Over plains and mountaintops
Into rivers and sea
一水澄澈此心不换
Like a water, clean with transparency
Nothing could exchange for my integrity
剑所向 道所在
My sword is pointing toward where the Way (Dao) lies
一身风流
Full of gallantry
一指春水晏然
A finger (wields power)
Spring water floats with vitality
This song comes from an anime that adopted from a web-novel. The story is about a master who is cheated by his junior fellow apprentice who conspires with the mongols force who wants to threaten the peace of the Central Plain (中原, referring to the ruling dynasty in that time). The master was hurt severly in a duel with mongols, fall under Banbu Mount 半步峰, and saved by the other main character. Since then, they started advantures together and build strong connections with each other. The master has sword named "同悲," compassion, that appears in the lyrics. I translated it as Eleos, the greek root of the English word compassion, making it sounds like a name instead of a personality. The other main character who saved the master is good at a martial art called 春水指法 (the term is basically about a person, inspired by the itality of the spring water, wields power through a fingre). The term is also implied in the lyrics.
I translated this song in a first-person perspective as a personal choice. The lyrics adopt a writing style of ancient Chinese text which usually omits the pronouns. Therefore, I take the song as a narrative from the master's perspective, and use "I" referring to the master himself.
一场盛世繁华 若指间沙
The millennium
Like sands slipping through fingers
似传说的话
Like words in myths
庙堂高墙的画 吹落的刹那
The moment when the painting falls
From the temple’s tall wall
雨中红伞探白花 华服金面高楼下
In a rain, a vermilion umbrella dabs an ivory flower
(He wears) a martial panoply and a golden mask, under the tower
一念间 桃源已成飞沙
Within a blink of the heart
The Land of Peach Blossoms vanished into drifting sands
上元灯火漫天 千山万水潋滟
The light covered the sky for the festival
Numerous hills and rivers glittering
白衣翩跹 仗剑执花 天下妄言
(He) tripped in a pearly-white garment
Holding sword, gripping a flower
Bold enough to remark on the world
从此他这一眼
Since one glance
犹记了千百年
(A youth) has remembered him for thousands years
沧海变 桑田间 而今再相见
Till the boundless ocean is drained
Among the mulberry field
Now, (they) meet again
红莲赤焰 莫问是鬼还是仙
The red lotus, the crimson flame
Devil or immortal? You never know
芳心只一剑 如何能救万千
A solid heart is (his) only sword
Millions of lives it couldn’t afford
彼时金枝玉叶 斜冠散发问苍天
The golden branch, the jade leaf, the past
Hat tilted, hairs untied, (he) doubts the firmament
身在无间 心亦在无间
(His) body in the relentless hell
(His) solid heart as well
褪去华服金面
The martial panoply and the golden mask are left in idle
这人间已换了多少家
How many dynasties have passed, in this human realm?
红叶吹落轻纱 看落日残霞
The red leaves fall, like delicate gauzes
(He) watches sunset and the remaining afterglow
雨中红伞探白花 华服金面高楼下
In a rain, a vermilion umbrella dabs an ivory flower
(He wears) a martial panoply and a golden mask, under the tower
一念间 桃源已成飞沙
Within a blink of the heart
The Land of Peach Blossoms vanished into drifting sands
月夕言笑晏晏
That night with a glowing moon
Their smiles were mild
悦神明灯三千
(The youth) lightened three thousands sky lanterns
To please His Divinity
布衣草笠 白绫双枷 天下未言
(His Divinity) wore a cotton garment
A bleaching silk; double chains bundled
Never remarks on the world
回首梦已阑珊
Look back, dreams have withered
众生尽皆漠然
All the mundane lives are indifferent
万世千秋 不如他一眼经年
Ten-thousand autumns
Are less than his single glance, braving years
红莲赤焰 莫问是鬼还是仙
The red lotus, the crimson flame
Devil or immortal? You never know
芳心只一剑 如何能救万千
A solid heart is (his) only sword
Millions of lives it couldn’t afford
彼时金枝玉叶 斜冠散发问苍天
The golden branch, the jade leaf, the past
Hat tilted, hairs untied, (he) doubts the firmament
身在无间 心亦在无间
(His) body in the relentless hell
(His) solid heart as well
神窟千面 是爱是恨还是怜
Thousands faces in the divine cave
Love, hatred, or mercy?
岁岁复年年 谁在耳边轻言
Year after year
Who is whispering in the ear?
红叶苍山 方见 花开满城一念间
The red leaves, bleak mountains
Within a blink of the heart
The whole city is just in bloom
千灯观前 与君话桃源
In front of the Temple of Thousands Lanterns,
We talk about the Land of Peach Blossoms
This song is fan-created work for a web novel "Heaven Official's Blessing" 《天官赐福》. The novel is about two main characters: Xie Lian 谢怜 and Hua Cheng 花城. Their names also appear in the lyrics as hints. Moreover, the sword of Xie Lian 谢怜 is called 芳心 Solid Heart, which is implied in the lyrics. I did not intentionally make the term sound like a name in the translation becasue there are multiple ways to understand the original text (the term can be a name or merely a noun in the context.)
I decide to translate the lyrics in a third-person omniscient point of view as a personal choice. The lyrics, like the one above, written in an ancient style, are implicit about the pronouns. Adopting the third-person omniscient p.o.v., I want to create a feeling of reading through an ancient myth for the readers, to be faithful to the flow of the novel.