Tang poem · five-character old-style poem唐诗 · 五言古诗
wéi韦yìng应wù物Wei Yingwu · Tang唐
Meeting Feng Zhu in Chang'an
kè客cóng从dōng东fāng方lái来
yī衣shàng上bà灞líng陵yǔ雨
wèn问kè客hé何wèi为lái来
cǎi采shān山yīn因mǎi买fǔ斧
míng冥míng冥huā花zhèng正kāi开
yáng飏yáng飏yàn燕xīn新rǔ乳
zuó昨bié别jīn今yǐ已chūn春
bìn鬓sī丝shēng生jǐ几lǚ缕
Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。
Feng Zhu was a friend of Wei Yingwu. He was very talented, but never did well as an official. One spring, Feng came to Chang'an from the east, passing Baling, and Wei met him and wrote this poem. The line about buying an axe is Feng's answer. It is usually read as a joke with a bitter smile: he had come to the capital hoping to find a post, failed, and so said he had only come to buy an axe so he could go and live in the hills. Which year it was written is not agreed.
冯著是韦应物的朋友，很有才华，但做官一直不顺利。这一年春天，冯著从东边来到长安，经过灞陵，韦应物遇见他，写了这首诗。“采山因买斧”是冯著的回答，一般理解为一句带着苦笑的玩笑话：他到长安本想谋个出路，没有成功，只好说自己是来买斧头、准备进山隐居的。具体写于哪一年，说法不一。
Wei Yingwu was a mid-Tang poet from Chang'an. As a young man he was a guard of Emperor Xuanzong and lived rather wildly. Only after the An Lushan Rebellion did he start to study hard. Later he governed Chuzhou, Jiangzhou and Suzhou, and people called him Wei of Suzhou. His poems are plain and natural, and often show care for his friends. This poem about meeting a friend is warm and friendly, just like his style.
韦应物，唐代中期诗人，长安人。他年轻时做过唐玄宗的侍卫，很任性；安史之乱以后才发愤读书。后来他做过滁州、江州、苏州的刺史（一州的长官），人称“韦苏州”。他的诗平淡自然，常写对朋友的关心。这首诗写朋友见面，语气亲切，正是他的风格。
This poem is like a short chat between two old friends. First we see Feng Zhu, tired from the road, with rain still on his clothes. Asked why he has come, he jokes that he is here to buy an axe so he can cut wood in the hills. He says it lightly, but he is disappointed inside. Wei Yingwu does not comfort him directly. Instead he points to the spring around them: flowers thick on the branches, swallows with newly hatched chicks, new life everywhere. With spring so lovely, why be too sad? The last two lines tease a little too. We parted only a short while ago, and already it is spring again. How many new grey hairs have you got? All the care and sympathy are in this gentle question.
这首诗像两位老朋友的一段对话。开头写冯著风尘仆仆，衣服上还沾着路上的雨。问他来干什么，他笑着说来买斧头上山砍柴，话说得轻松，心里却有失意。韦应物没有直接安慰他，而是指给他看眼前的春天：花开得正密，燕子刚孵出小燕，到处都是新生命。春天这么好，朋友又何必太难过呢？最后两句又带点玩笑：才分别没多久，又一年春天了，你的鬓角又多了几根白发吧？关心和惋惜，全在这句轻轻的问话里。