Tang poem · old-style poem with lines of mixed length唐诗 · 杂言古诗

shí石yú鱼hú湖shàng上zuì醉gē歌

yuán元jié结Yuan Jie · Tang唐

Drunken Song on Stone Fish Lake

shí石yú鱼hú湖

sì似dòng洞tíng庭

xià夏shuǐ水yù欲mǎn满jūn君shān山qīng青

shān山wéi为zūn樽

shuǐ水wéi为zhǎo沼

jiǔ酒tú徒lì历lì历zuò坐zhōu洲dǎo岛

cháng长fēng风lián连rì日zuò作dà大làng浪

bù不néng能fèi废rén人yùn运jiǔ酒fǎng舫

wǒ我chí持cháng长piáo瓢zuò坐bā巴qiū丘

zhuó酌yǐn饮sì四zuò座yǐ以sàn散chóu愁

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。

The corpus writes si zuo (everyone seated around) with the character for "sit" instead of "seat"; in old writing the two were used interchangeably. The poem originally has a short preface, which is not included here.

资料库本“四座”写作“四坐”。古时“坐”和“座”可以通用，通行本多作“四座”。诗前原有一段小序，这里没有收录。

Line by line逐句翻译

石鱼湖Stone Fish Lake,石鱼湖啊，
似洞庭you are like Dongting Lake:就像洞庭湖一样，
夏水欲满君山青the summer water is nearly full, and the stone fish is green like Junshan Hill.夏天湖水快要涨满，石鱼像君山一样青翠。
山为樽The hill is our wine cup,把山当作酒杯，
水为沼the lake our pool of wine,把湖水当作酒池，
酒徒历历坐洲岛and our drinking friends sit one by one on the little islands.喝酒的朋友一个个坐在湖中的小洲小岛上。
长风连日作大浪For days a strong wind has raised big waves,大风一连几天掀起大浪，
不能废人运酒舫but it cannot stop us rowing the wine boats back and forth.也拦不住人们划着小船运酒。
我持长瓢坐巴丘Holding a long ladle, I sit on the hillside like Baqiu,我拿着长柄的酒勺，坐在湖边的山坡上，
酌饮四座以散愁pouring wine for everyone around to drive our sorrows away.给四周的朋友倒酒，好把忧愁都赶走。

Words字词注释

石鱼湖shí yú hú: Shiyu Hu: Stone Fish Lake, a small lake outside Daozhou (today's Dao County in Hunan). In it is a big rock shaped like a fish, with a hollow on its back that can hold wine.石鱼湖：在道州（今天湖南道县）城外的一个小湖。湖里有块大石头，形状像鱼，鱼背上有个凹坑，可以装酒。
洞庭dòng tíng: Dongting: Dongting Lake in northern Hunan, a famous large lake.洞庭：洞庭湖，在今天湖南北部，是有名的大湖。
君山jūn shān: Junshan: a small island hill in Dongting Lake. Here the stone fish is compared to it.君山：洞庭湖里的一座小山。这里把湖中的石鱼比作君山。
樽zūn: zun: an old wine vessel.樽：古代的酒杯、酒器。
沼zhǎo: zhao: a pool. Here the whole lake is like a great pool of wine.沼：水池。这里说整个湖就像一个大酒池。
酒徒jiǔ tú: jiu tu: drinking companions.酒徒：一起喝酒的朋友。
历历lì lì: li li: clearly, one by one.历历：一个一个清清楚楚的样子。
洲岛zhōu dǎo: zhou dao: islets and little islands in the lake.洲岛：湖中的小洲和小岛。
废fèi: fei: to stop, to prevent.废：阻止，使停下来。
酒舫jiǔ fǎng: jiu fang: a little boat carrying wine.酒舫：装酒的小船。
长瓢cháng piáo: chang piao: a long-handled ladle for wine.长瓢：长柄的舀酒勺。
巴丘bā qiū: Baqiu: a hill by Dongting Lake, in today's Yueyang. Here it stands for the bank of Stone Fish Lake.巴丘：洞庭湖边的山，在今天湖南岳阳。这里用来比喻石鱼湖边的山坡。
酌饮zhuó yǐn: zhuo yin: pour wine for others to drink.酌饮：倒酒给人喝。
四座sì zuò: si zuo: everyone sitting all around.四座：四周坐着的人。
散愁sàn chóu: san chou: drive away sorrow.散愁：把忧愁赶走。

How to read it读音

为wéi: Here it means "to serve as", so it is read wéi, not wèi.这里是“作为、当作”的意思，读 wéi，不读 wèi。
为wéi: As above, read wéi.同上，读 wéi。

Background创作背景

Under Emperor Daizong, Yuan Jie served as governor of Daozhou. Outside the town was a small lake with a big fish-shaped rock in it. The hollow on the fish's back could hold wine, so he named the lake Stone Fish Lake. The short preface to the poem says he brewed wine from the rice of public fields. On days off he took the wine to the lake, poured it into the stone fish, and sent it in little boats to friends sitting all around. It felt like drinking on Junshan Hill in Dongting Lake, so he wrote this song.

元结在唐代宗时做道州刺史（一州的长官）。道州城外有个小湖，湖里有块像鱼的大石头，鱼背上的凹坑可以装酒，他就给湖起名叫“石鱼湖”。诗前的小序说：他用公田的米酿酒，休假时就带酒到湖上，把酒倒进石鱼里，再用小船载着酒分给坐在四周的朋友，好像在洞庭湖的君山上喝酒一样，于是写了这首歌。

The poet作者

Yuan Jie (719–772) was a Tang poet and prose writer who called himself the Carefree Old Man. As a local official he cared about the hardships of ordinary people. He believed poems should be plain and honest, not showy and empty. He loved hills and waters, gave names to many places around Daozhou, and wrote about them.

元结（719—772），唐代诗人、散文家，号“漫叟”。他做地方官时很关心百姓的疾苦，写诗主张朴实，反对华丽空洞的文风。他喜欢山水，在道州一带给不少山水起了名字，还写文章记下来。

The mood意境

This poem is like a lively drinking party on a lake. The poet imagines little Stone Fish Lake as the vast Dongting Lake, the stone fish as Junshan Hill, the hill as a wine cup and the lake as a pool of wine. His imagination is big and playful. Short three-character lines mix with seven-character lines, so it reads like a song, quick and bright. Even strong wind and big waves cannot stop the wine boats, which shows how happy everyone is. The last line, "to drive our sorrows away", reveals what is on his mind: he does have worries, and drinking and singing with friends is his way of chasing them off. There is a light sadness inside the high spirits.

这首诗像一场热闹的湖上酒会。诗人把小小的石鱼湖想象成大大的洞庭湖，把湖里的石鱼想成君山，把山当酒杯，把湖当酒池，想象力又大又好玩。三字句和七字句交错，读起来像在唱歌，轻快活泼。风大浪大，也挡不住运酒的小船，可见大家有多开心。最后一句“以散愁”透露了心事：诗人心里其实有忧愁，喝酒唱歌，是想和朋友一起把愁赶走。豪放里带着一点淡淡的忧伤。