Su Qian: Entering a Picture

Su Qian: Entering a Picture


　　入画
　　　　　　　　　　苏浅
想象一种可能的方式
打虎，但不醉酒，也不过景阳岗

路遇武松，就叫他兄弟，抱拳，问好
喜欢他，但不能脸红

一路婉转，相谈甚欢
他看到桃花，我想着猛虎

　　Entering a Picture
　　　　　　　　　　　　by Su Qian　　tr. Fan Jinghua
Imagine a possible way by which I too might punch a tiger
to death, with bare hands, not drunken, and without risking the Jingyang Ridge

I might run into Wu Song and greet him as Brother, my hands clasped,
falling into him but showing no blush on my face

We would have a hearty talk down the way, my words obscure
In his eyes a peach flower, in my mind a fierce tiger

Another Version
　　Into a Picture
　　　　　　　　　　　　by Su Qian　　tr. Fan Jinghua
Imagine a possible way to kill a tiger,
With a sober mind and two hands only, not even on the road to the Jingyang Ridge;

So I ran into Wu Song, and held fists to greet him as Brother,
And I adored him, no blush on my face;

We had a hearty talk along the winding road,
A peach flower in his eyes, a valiant tiger in my mind.

Note:
Wu Song was a legendary hero from Chinese classic novel Outlaws of the Marsh, who reportedly punched a tiger to death at the Jingyang Ridge with bare hands when he was drunk. For the purpose of understanding the translation on its own, I have added some words: too, with bare hands.
注：武松乃中国古典小说《水浒传》中的传奇英雄，他醉酒后在景阳岗徒手打死一只
老虎。为了便于就译文自身理解，翻译中增加了以下词语：我也能（打虎），徒手。
（因为有了增加的词汇，因此这个注释才是不需要的）