gōng宫cí词

This is another palace lament, about the unfree and unhappy lives of palace women. Once a girl entered the palace, she often could never leave. We do not know the year it was written. The title is sometimes given as "Song from the Palace". The poet does not show the women crying or complaining. He catches one small moment: they want to talk, but they are afraid the parrot will repeat their words.

这也是一首宫怨诗，写皇宫里宫女们不自由、不快乐的生活。宫女一旦进宫，往往一辈子都出不去。这首诗写于哪一年不清楚。诗题一作《宫中词》。诗人没有写宫女怎么哭、怎么诉苦，只抓住了一个小小的场面：她们想说话，却怕被鹦鹉学了去。

Zhu Qingyu came from Yuezhou, today's Shaoxing in Zhejiang. He passed the highest imperial exam in 826. The poet Zhang Ji thought highly of him. His most famous poem was written to Zhang Ji before the exam. In it, a new bride asks if her makeup looks right, which is his way of asking whether his poems are good enough.

朱庆馀（也写作朱庆余），名可久，以字行，越州（今浙江绍兴）人，唐敬宗宝历二年（826年）考中进士。他得到诗人张籍的赏识，最有名的是考试前写给张籍的《近试上张水部》，用新娘问妆比喻自己的诗写得好不好。

The first line already holds a contrast. Outside it is spring and flowers are blooming, a time that should be lively. But the gate is shut and all is quiet. The lovelier the spring, the lonelier the women locked inside. A few of them stand together on the veranda. They finally have a moment together and have so much to say. But a parrot hangs nearby. Parrots copy what they hear. If it repeated their complaints to someone, they could be in great trouble. So no one dares to speak. They cannot even share their true feelings. That alone tells us how heavy palace life was. The last line is clever, and also very sad.

第一句就很矛盾：外面是花开的春天，本该热闹，院门却关着，静悄悄的。春天越美，关在里面的人越寂寞。几个宫女站在长廊上，好不容易聚在一起，心里有好多话想说。可是旁边挂着一只鹦鹉。鹦鹉会学舌，万一把她们的抱怨学给别人听，就会惹来大祸。于是谁也不敢开口。连说句心里话都不敢，宫里的日子有多压抑，就不用再多说了。最后一句很有意思，也很让人心酸。