Translation: Liu Zong Yuan : At One with the River Apes

The river road is long and winding.
The mournful apes won’t cease from howling.
My eyes run dry from too much weeping
In vain the sounds of my heart breaking

The English connotations of the words “ape” and “monkey” are very pejorative. Is it the same in Chinese? When the poet says he has joined with the river apes, howling in the wilderness, he vividly shows his sense of exile and alienation.

The original poem translates word for word into the passive tense, and the implied narrator is referred to in the third person as “chen” which translates to “subject of the ruler” or “vassal”. There is no rhyme. In translating, I used the half-rhyme “ing” ending to help the flow and link the images, and introduced “I” as the protagonist to eliminate the awkward passive tense.

The original poem is below in simplified Chinese characters, Pinyin, word for word translation, and free line by line translation.

入 溪 猿
ru4 xi1 yuan2
At one with the river apes

溪路千里曲
xi1lu4qian1li3qu3
brook road ten thousand li / a long distance bend
The river road is long and winding

哀猿何处鸣
ai1yuan2he2chu3 ming2
mourning ape where cry of animals
The mournful howls of apes fill the air

孤臣泪已尽
gu1 chen2lei4 yi3 jin4
isolated ruler’s subject tears cease exhausted
The tears of the vassal are exhausted

虚作断肠声
xu1 zuo4duan4chang2 sheng1
In vain make heart-broken noise
In vain are the sounds of heartbreak

Translation: Wang Wei – Birds Calling from the Ravine

At leisure, as osmanthus flowers fall

In the still night, the mountain cloaked in spring

The moon comes out, alarms the mountain birds.

From deep within the spring ravine they call。

Another format for arranging the steps in translation – which works best?   Above is my translation into English iambic pentameter, with  a b c a rhyme.  Below, the classic poem in simplified Chinese characters, with the Pinyin translation and word-by-word translations in second and third column next to each line. Finally  a word-by-word translation and a free translation with no attempt at standard rhythm or rhyme.

鸟鸣涧 –  Niao1 Ming2 Jian4

人闲桂 花落      ren2 xian2 gui4 hua1 luo4         person idle cassia/ozmanthas flower fall

夜静春山空      Ye jing4 chun1 shan1 kong1      night quiet/still spring mountain free time/empty

 月出惊山鸟     yue4 chu1 jing1 shan1 niao1     moon come out startle mountain bird

 时鸣春涧中    Shi2 ming2 chun1 jian4 zhong1 present/ from time to time cry of birds spring ravine in

Person idle osmanthus flower fall Night quiet spring hill empty Moon out startle hill birds Constant call spring ravine in

I’m idle, as osmanthus flowers fall, This quiet night in spring, the hill is empty. The moon comes out and startles the birds on the hill, They don’t stop calling in the spring ravine.