Just felt that this song suits Third Madam Yi (Ch. 17.3)…
鐫刻好 每道眉間心上
畫間透過思量
沾染了 墨色淌
千家文 都泛黃
夜靜謐 窗紗微微亮
拂袖起舞於夢中徘徊
相思蔓上心扉
猶眷戀 梨花淚
靜畫紅妝等誰歸
空留伊人徐徐憔悴
啊 胭脂香味
卷珠簾 是為誰
啊 不見高軒
夜月明 此時難為情
啊 胭脂香味
卷珠簾 是為誰
啊 不見高軒
夜月明 此時難為情
Are you going to Scarborough Fair
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seams nor needlework
Then she’ll be a true love of mine
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
啊 胭脂香味
卷珠簾 是為誰
啊 高軒霧退
夜月明 此時難為情
誰在煙雲處琴聲長
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
The God of Song explains why he ‘matchmade’ these two songs:
-
In the past, women were bound by the Confucian code of etiquette and could only hide behind the ‘bead curtain’, longing to see their lover. […] Their sighs and complaints could not be articulated and such verses always give one the impression of yearning and heartbreak behind the bead curtains.
-
In contrast to ‘The Bead Curtain’, ‘Scarborough Fair’ depicts Europe in the Middle Ages. A man has long admired a woman but due to the customs of the age, is unable to set aside his male pride and declare himself openly so he asks a troubadour to pass a message to the woman. In the song, ‘Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme’ carried the same connotations as roses do today and in the language of flowers can be said to represent ‘sweetness, strength, honesty and bravery.’
-
These two songs, one Chinese and one Western, one male and one female, coincidentally express how, through the ages, the experience of missing someone is a universal experience, regardless of borders, gender or age. Lovesickness is a lonely monologue in the experience of love, […]
Partially and loosely translated by 12 from Terry Lin’s blog entry
It’s beyond my abilities currently to translate the lyrics into verse (much less readable verse), so rather than mangle it by prose, I’ve decided to settle for translating a stranger’s line-by-line interpretation of the lyrics. I feel it also explains why certain motifs recur throughout the novel itself.
-
Line 1 — Firstly, the subject is a very beautiful lady who is painting at the moment. She’s painting her lover. In olden times, men were described in terms of their ‘beards and brows’ […]. A man’s handsomeness was decided by whether his brows gave him a sufficiently heroic air. In the lady’s opinion, her lover is very handsome and she is reminded of him as she paints the eyebrows.
Line 2 — As she paints, she reminisces about their times together.
Lines 3 and 4 — Ink was used in olden times to paint. The multi-talented lady is versed in music, chess, composition and painting. Her deep yearning not only brings to life the likeness of her handsome and strapping husband but also suffuses the painting which is why it outshines countless verse written about lovesickness throughout generations.
Lines 5 — She has been painting for a long time, right throughout the quiet lateness of night and even until dawn peeps through the curtain.
Lines 6 and 7 — As she paints, she thinks of her husband and eventually drifts into sleep. At first she thinks she can finally have a good rest but again she is reminded of the blissful times she had with her husband (being a talented woman, she would also be good at dancing) and of how she danced for her husband. (I must add, in olden times, ladies who were well versed in the arts were usually the daughters of wealthy families and since they were matchmade to men of similar status, it’s very likely that her husband was a nobleman or a hero, something echoed in the later lines, you’ll see soon enough.) So now she can’t sleep again as she remembers the dancing and therefore is overcome by the feelings of missing him.
Line 8 — this is a pun but I think there are three meanings. Firstly, pear blossoms: they bloom only for a short time. This may mean that although the time with her husband isn’t short, she herself feels it’s not long enough and she longs to be with her husband forever. Secondly, pear blossoms bloom and wilt after the Qingming festival and can also be a hint that her husband is no longer alive. Thirdly, pear blossoms traditionally referred to pure and innocent love, everlasting love so this shows that her love for her husband is so deep that the possibility of joining him in death is plausible. (From this, it’s possible to interpret the song as being about her having just received word of her husband’s demise. The early verses talked about his brows and I think that’s a strong reference to his being a hero who died in battle since classical texts liked to refer to generals using the term ‘brows’).
Lines 9 and 10 — These are easy to understand, I think you all get it, she’s so pitiful. (But I like to imagine it as her putting on make-up for the last time as morning dawns. This is echoed in the last line.)
Lines 11 and 12 — Of course, make-up back then referred to rouge and they were fond of associating women, especially beauties, with scents. So this line is both about the lady’s beauty as well as her lovesickness. I believe the line ‘whom is the bead curtain for?’ refers to her applying make-up behind closed doors and whom is she doing it for? (Like I said, this could be the last time she does it.) It may also be asking whom she seems to be preparing to join.
Lines 13 and 14 — ‘高軒’ could be a reference to her husband’s carriage but it could also mean a corridor with windows and refer to the loneliness of not seeing a loved one returning. ‘The full moon, a moment hard to bear’: in olden times, the moon was especially associated with yearning, especially when it was bright. Take note that ‘難為情’ does not have the modern vernacular connotation of ‘embarrassment’. Classically it referred to ‘feelings that were especially hard to control.’ Meaning that under the bright moon, her feelings of yearning and love have reached a climax and are hard to control.
[Truncated] Line 15 — It looks as though the lady is outside where it’s drizzling and she’s going up the mountain where water flows and petals fall. She has brought along her qin (instrument similar to the zither) and on the misty mountain, she plays a tune for the last time, the very first tune she played for her husband (multi-talented lady, remember?) After playing the tune, she…
Partially and loosely translated by 12 from this source
EDIT 08 Feb 2020: Updated the link with an available video.
Singer: Lin Zhixuan (Terry Lin)
Original singer: Huo Zun
Lyricist: Li Shu, LUNA
Composer: Huo Zun
© 12 and hiding in plain sight 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any translations or writings published here without express and written permission from 12 is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to 12 and theresanother.wordpress.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Example here.
hiding in plain sight 