Tang poem · seven-character quatrain唐诗 · 七言绝句

xiǎo小ér儿chuí垂diào钓

hú胡lìng令néng能Hu Lingneng · Tang唐

A Child Fishing

péng蓬tóu头zhì稚zǐ子xué学chuí垂lún纶

cè侧zuò坐méi莓tái苔cǎo草yìng映shēn身

lù路rén人jiè借wèn问yáo遥zhāo招shǒu手

pà怕dé得yú鱼jīng惊bú不yìng应rén人

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 the character for "young" (zhì) in an old variant form. The textbook uses the standard form.

资料库原文“稚”写作“穉”，这是“稚”的异体字，课本写“稚”。

Line by line逐句翻译

蓬头稚子学垂纶A little child with messy hair is learning to fish.一个头发乱蓬蓬的小孩，在河边学钓鱼，
侧坐莓苔草映身He sits sideways on the moss, half hidden by the grass.他侧着身子坐在青苔上，野草掩映着他的身影。
路人借问遥招手A passer-by asks him the way, and he waves from afar,有个过路人向他问路，他远远地摆摆手，
怕得鱼惊不应人afraid of scaring the fish, he will not say a word.怕把鱼吓跑了，不敢出声回答。

Words字词注释

蓬头péng tóu: péng tóu: with messy, uncombed hair.蓬头：头发乱蓬蓬的，没有梳整齐。
稚子zhì zǐ: zhì zǐ: a small child.稚子：小孩子。
垂纶chuí lún: chuí lún: to fish. Lún is fishing line.垂纶：钓鱼。纶，钓鱼用的丝线。
侧坐cè zuò: cè zuò: sitting sideways.侧坐：侧着身子坐。
莓苔méi tái: méi tái: moss, the little green plants that grow in damp places.莓苔：青苔，长在潮湿地方的绿色小植物。
映身yìng shēn: yìng shēn: the grass half hides his body.映身：草把他的身子遮住了一些。映，遮掩、映衬。
借问jiè wèn: jiè wèn: to ask someone the way.借问：向人打听。
遥yáo: yáo: from far away.遥：远远地。
不应人bú yìng rén: bù yìng rén: does not answer the passer-by.不应人：不回答路人的话。

How to read it读音

得dé: The textbook reads this character as dé. Some read it děi. Either way it means "afraid that...".得：课本读 dé。也有人读 děi，意思差不多，都是“怕会……”。
应yìng: Here the character means to answer or respond, so it is read yìng, not yīng.应：这里是“回答、理睬”的意思，读 yìng，不读 yīng。

Background创作背景

This poem shows a funny scene the poet saw by the water. A child is fishing very seriously. When someone asks him the way, he dares not speak and just waves his hand. The poet caught that moment in words. We do not know exactly when or where he wrote it. Today the poem is in primary school textbooks and is one of the first old poems many children read.

这首诗写的是诗人在水边看到的一个有趣画面：一个小孩正在专心钓鱼，有人问路，他不敢说话，只是摆手。诗人把这一刻写了下来。写作的具体时间和地点不详。这首诗现在收在小学语文课本里，是很多孩子最早读到的古诗之一。

The poet作者

Hu Lingneng was a Tang poet who lived in the time of Emperors Dezong and Xianzong. He lived quietly in Putian, near today's Zhengzhou in Henan. As a young man he earned his living mending pots and bowls, so people called him "Hu the Tinker". Few of his poems survive, but "A Child Fishing" is widely known.

胡令能，唐代诗人，生活在唐德宗、唐宪宗时期，隐居在圃田（今河南郑州一带）。他年轻时以修补锅碗、钉铰为生，人称“胡钉铰”。他留下的诗很少，但这首《小儿垂钓》流传很广。

The mood意境

The first two lines show what the child looks like. Messy hair, sitting sideways on the moss, half hidden by grass. He is clearly a playful country kid, and he is only "learning" to fish, a beginner. The last two lines tell a small event. A passer-by asks the way. The child waves from afar but says nothing. Why? He is afraid a sound will scare the fish away. The gesture is so true to life that we feel we are standing right there. The child's seriousness, innocence and charm are all in that one wave of the hand.

前两句写小孩的样子：头发乱乱的，侧身坐在青苔上，草遮住了半个身子。一看就是个贪玩的乡下孩子，还在“学”钓鱼，是个新手。后两句写一件小事：路人问路，他远远地招招手，却不说话。为什么？“怕得鱼惊”——怕一出声把鱼吓跑了。这个动作写得特别传神，好像我们就站在旁边看。小孩的认真、天真和可爱，全在这一招手里。