mù木lán兰huā花·chí池táng塘shuǐ水lǜ绿fēng风wēi微nuǎn暖

We do not know exactly when this was written. Yan Shu held high office all his life, and his home often had banquets with singers and dancers. The lyric looks back to a spring many years ago, when he first saw a young singer and dancer at a feast. At the end it turns: counting the people who enjoyed the flowers with him then, he finds not even half are left. The lyric also appears under Ouyang Xiu's name with a few words changed, but it is usually taken as Yan Shu's.

这首词的写作时间不能确定。晏殊一生做大官，家里常常摆酒宴，请歌女唱歌跳舞。这首词回忆多年前一个春天，在宴会上第一次见到一位歌舞女子的情景。最后笔锋一转，写如今再数当年一起赏花的人，已经不到一半。这首词也被收在欧阳修名下，文字稍有不同，一般认为是晏殊的作品。

Yan Shu (991–1055) was an early Northern Song lyric poet and also served as chief minister. As a boy he was sent to court as a child prodigy, and his career went smoothly all his life. His lyrics are gentle and graceful, often about banquets, spring light and a light sadness. His son Yan Jidao was also a famous lyric poet; the two are called the Two Yans.

晏殊（991—1055），北宋前期的词人，也做过宰相。他小时候被当作神童推荐到朝廷，一生做官都很顺利。他的词温和、典雅，常写宴会、春光和淡淡的惆怅。他的儿子晏几道也是有名的词人，父子俩被合称为“二晏”。

The first half is like a colorful memory. The spring pond is green, the wind is warm, and the girl appears for the first time. She sings, and her voice rings like jade. She dances, and her red skirt spins like a flame. As you read, you can picture yourself at the feast, lost in the music. The second half goes on with that happy day: drinking by the railing and the steps, so drunk that no one noticed the sunset. Then the last two lines jump back to now. Of the friends who enjoyed the flowers together, not even half are left. Putting the lively past next to the lonely present makes us feel how fast time flies and how nothing stays the same. The sense of loss is spoken softly, but it goes deep.

上半首像一段彩色的回忆。春天的池塘绿了，风暖暖的，那位姑娘第一次出现。她唱歌，声音像玉石叮当作响；她跳舞，红裙转成一团火。读的时候，可以想象自己也坐在宴会上，听得入了迷。下半首先接着写那天的快乐：在栏杆下、台阶旁喝得大醉，太阳下山了都不知道。最后两句一下子回到现在：当年一起赏花的人，数一数已经不到一半。热闹的过去和冷清的现在放在一起，让人感到时光飞逝、人事无常，那种失落说得很轻，却很深。