孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
送卢汀侍御归天德幕
Escorting Lu Ting and his retainers back to the Canopy of Heaven's Virtue
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仲宣领骑射 结束皆少年 匹马黄河岸 射雕清霜天 |
Zhong and Xuan were master archers Even though they were both very young, Their two horses on the banks of Yellow River, Shooting eagles from a clear, cold sky. |
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旌旗防日北 道路上云巅 古雪无销铄 新冰有堆填 |
Their banners beneath a northern sun, Their road passed over cloudy peaks Where ancient snow never melted and New ice piled up everywhere. |
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清溪徒耸诮 白璧自招贤 岂比重恩者 闭门方独全 |
The clear creek is criticized in vain and Flawless jade is its own virtue. How could those so deeply graced have Closed the door upon all the lonely? |
-- 孟郊
废话
This poem has me remembering the opening credits to the long television adaptation of Jin Yong's Eagle-Shooting Heroes. Apart from that, I'm confused. I can't identify Lu Ting. 侍御 means "king's chariots and retainers." So I'm guessing that Lu has retainers (but not chariots). And Canopy of Heaven's Virtue could be anything: a mountain, a monastery, or a wineshop -- your guess is as good as mine.
The bigram 骑射 is "horse-archery" which was part of a gentleman's education in the time of Kongzi (Confucious) who, by the way, was said to be good at it. I have no idea who Zhong and Xuan were, possibly Warring States heroes. And the rest of the first two quatrains seem like a presque vú of a wuxia movie.
Then for the big finale: The first two lines are your standard moral tautologies. And the last two lines leave me baffled. The doors could have been closed upon "all loneliness." "Deeply graced" could be "deeply favored." The middle character of the last line (方) suggests "region of all loneliness." None of which is helpful. We kind of have the opening scenes and the final voice-over for a movie which has been lost to the ages. Too bad. Maybe a copy will turn up one day in the Dunhuang caves.