No. 73 · Tang poem · five-character old-style poem第 73 首 · 唐诗 · 五言古诗

mèng梦lǐ李bái白èr二shǒu首·qí其yī一

dù杜fǔ甫Du Fu · Tang唐

Dreaming of Li Bai, the First of Two

sǐ死bié别yǐ已tūn吞shēng声

shēng生bié别cháng常cè恻cè恻

jiāng江nán南zhàng瘴lì疠dì地

zhú逐kè客wú无xiāo消xī息

gù故rén人rù入wǒ我mèng梦

míng明wǒ我cháng长xiāng相yì忆

jūn君jīn今zài在luó罗wǎng网

hé何yǐ以yǒu有yǔ羽yì翼

kǒng恐fēi非píng平shēng生hún魂

lù路yuǎn远bù不kě可cè测

hún魂lái来fēng枫lín林qīng青

hún魂fǎn返guān关sài塞hēi黑

luò落yuè月mǎn满wū屋liáng梁

yóu犹yí疑zhào照yán颜sè色

shuǐ水shēn深bō波làng浪kuò阔

wú无shǐ使jiāo蛟lóng龙dé得

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。

In the corpus text, the couplet about being caught in a net and having wings comes after the line about the dark border passes, and line eleven has "maple leaves" instead of "maple woods". In the usual text, such as Three Hundred Tang Poems, that couplet comes right after "for he knew how I keep thinking of him", and the line has "maple woods". This page follows the usual text.

原始文本把“君今在罗网，何以有羽翼”放在“魂返关塞黑”之后，第十一句作“魂来枫叶青”。通行本（如《唐诗三百首》）这两句在“明我长相忆”之后，并作“魂来枫林青”，这里用通行本。

Line by line逐句翻译

死别已吞声Parting by death, in time one swallows the sobs;和死去的人永别，哭到最后只能把哭声咽下；
生别常恻恻parting while alive keeps the heart aching always.和活着的人分离，却常常让人心痛难忍。
江南瘴疠地The south is a land of fever mists,江南是瘴气弥漫的地方，
逐客无消息and of you, the exile, there is no news.被流放的你，一点消息也没有。
故人入我梦My old friend came into my dream,老朋友走进了我的梦里，
明我长相忆for he knew how I keep thinking of him.因为知道我一直在想念他。
君今在罗网You are caught in the net of the law now,你现在被罪名困住，像鸟落进网里，
何以有羽翼so how could you have wings to fly here?怎么会长出翅膀飞到这里来？
恐非平生魂I fear this is not the soul of a living man,我担心这不是你活着时的魂魄，
路远不可测the road is so far, I cannot tell what has become of you.路这么远，你的生死实在难以知道。
魂来枫林青When your soul came, it passed through green maple woods;你的魂来的时候，经过青青的枫树林；
魂返关塞黑when it went back, the border passes were black with night.你的魂回去的时候，关塞一片漆黑。
落月满屋梁The setting moon fills the roof beams with light,落下去的月光洒满了屋梁，
犹疑照颜色and I still half think it shines on your face.我还以为是照着你的脸庞。
水深波浪阔Where you are, the water is deep and the waves are wide;你那里水深浪大，
无使蛟龙得do not let the dragons catch you.千万不要让蛟龙把你抓走。

Words字词注释

死别sǐ bié: sǐ bié: parting from someone by death.死别：和死去的人永别。
吞声tūn shēng: tūn shēng: swallowing one's sobs, crying without a sound.吞声：哭不出声音，把哭声咽下去。
生别shēng bié: shēng bié: parting from someone who is still alive.生别：和活着的人分离。
恻恻cè cè: cè cè: deeply sad.恻恻：非常悲伤的样子。
瘴疠zhàng lì: zhàng lì: the hot, damp air of southern forests that was thought to cause sickness. Lì means a plague.瘴疠：南方山林里湿热的毒气，人吸了容易生病，古人叫它“瘴气”。疠，瘟疫。
逐客zhú kè: zhú kè: a banished man, here Li Bai, who was exiled to Yelang.逐客：被放逐的人，这里指被流放到夜郎的李白。
故人gù rén: gù rén: an old friend, here Li Bai.故人：老朋友，指李白。
明míng: míng: to show, to make clear.明：表明，知道。
长相忆cháng xiāng yì: cháng xiāng yì: always thinking of him.长相忆：一直在想念他。
罗网luó wǎng: luó wǎng: a net for catching birds. Here it means Li Bai has been found guilty and is trapped like a bird in a net.罗网：捕鸟的网。这里比喻李白被定了罪，像鸟被网罩住一样。
羽翼yǔ yì: yǔ yì: wings.羽翼：翅膀。
恐kǒng: kǒng: to fear, to worry that.恐：恐怕，担心。
平生魂píng shēng hún: píng shēng hún: the soul of a living person. The poet fears the visitor in his dream is Li Bai's ghost.平生魂：活人的魂魄。诗人担心来梦里的是李白死后的鬼魂。
不可测bù kě cè: bù kě cè: impossible to know or guess.不可测：没法知道，难以预料。
枫林fēng lín: fēng lín: maple forests, common in the south where Li Bai was.枫林：李白所在的南方多枫树林。
关塞guān sài: guān sài: passes and forts, the border area around Qinzhou where Du Fu lived.关塞：关口和要塞，指杜甫所在的秦州一带。
屋梁wū liáng: wū liáng: the roof beams of the house.屋梁：房屋顶上的大梁。
犹疑yóu yí: yóu yí: still seeming, still half believing.犹疑：还好像，还以为。
颜色yán sè: yán sè: a face, here Li Bai's face.颜色：脸色、面容，这里指李白的脸。
无使wú shǐ: wú shǐ: do not let.无使：不要让。
蛟龙jiāo lóng: jiāo lóng: a dragon in legend that stirs up waves; here it stands for wicked people and danger.蛟龙：传说中能兴风作浪的龙，这里比喻害人的坏人和险恶的处境。
得dé: dé: to catch, to get hold of.得：得到，抓住。

How to read it读音

长cháng: Here it reads cháng, meaning always or for a long time.长相忆：读 cháng，意思是长久、一直。
相xiāng: Here it reads xiāng; it shows one person acting toward another, so it means thinking of you.相忆：读 xiāng，表示一方对另一方，这里是“想念你”。
塞sài: In guān sài it reads sài, a fort on the border.关塞：读 sài，指边境上的要塞。
色sè: It reads sè; here yán sè means a person's face.颜色：读 sè，这里指脸色、容貌。

Background创作背景

In 757, Li Bai was thrown into prison for having joined the army of Prince Yong, Li Lin. The next year he was sentenced to exile to Yelang, in today's Guizhou area. In 759 he was pardoned on the way and set free, but Du Fu, far away in Qinzhou, today's Tianshui in Gansu, did not know this. Worried about his old friend, Du Fu dreamed of Li Bai several nights in a row and wrote two poems called "Dreaming of Li Bai". This is the first.

唐肃宗至德二载（757年），李白因为参加了永王李璘的军队，获罪入狱，第二年被判流放到夜郎（在今贵州一带）。乾元二年（759年），他在流放途中遇到大赦，被放了回来，可是杜甫远在秦州（今甘肃天水），并不知道。杜甫很担心老朋友，一连几夜梦见李白，写下了《梦李白》两首，这是第一首。

The poet作者

Du Fu (712–770) was a great Tang poet, called the Sage of Poetry. He was eleven years younger than Li Bai. They met in 744, traveled together, and became close friends. After they parted, he wrote many poems missing Li Bai. When Li Bai fell into trouble, Du Fu himself was a poor refugee, yet his heart was full of worry for his friend.

杜甫（712—770），唐代大诗人，人称“诗圣”。他比李白小十一岁，两人在744年相识，一起游玩过，从此成了好朋友。分别后他写了很多怀念李白的诗。李白落难的时候，杜甫自己也正在逃难，生活很苦，却一心牵挂着朋友。

The mood意境

The first two lines are heavy. When someone dies, you weep, and slowly the pain fades. But when a friend is alive and you hear nothing, the worry tugs at you every day. Then comes the dream. Li Bai appears, and Du Fu is glad, then at once afraid: you are locked up, so how could you fly here? Could you already be dead? This mix of joy and fear feels very real. When he wakes, moonlight falls on the beams, and for a moment he thinks he sees Li Bai's face. At the end he speaks like someone warning family: the water is deep, the waves are big, do not let the dragons take you. There are no grand words here, only the plain worry of a true friend.

开头两句就很重：人死了，痛哭一场也就慢慢过去了；可朋友活着却没有消息，那种揪心是天天都有的。接着写梦：李白来了，杜甫先是高兴，马上又害怕，你明明被关着，怎么飞得过来？难道你已经死了？这种又喜又怕的心情写得特别真。梦醒后，月光照在屋梁上，他还恍惚觉得看见了李白的脸。最后他像叮嘱亲人一样说：水深浪大，千万别被蛟龙抓去。整首诗没有一句大话，全是一个朋友最朴素的担心。