《琵琶行》
Song of the Lute Player
白居易
Bai Juyi
浔阳江头夜送客，枫叶荻花秋瑟瑟。
By the Xunyang River a guest is seen off one night;
Chill the autumn, red the maple leaves and in flower the reeds;
主人下马客在船，举酒欲饮无管弦。
The host alights from his horse, the guest is aboard,
They raise their cups to drink but have no music.
醉不成欢惨将别，别时茫茫江浸月。
Drunk without joy, in sadness they must part;
At the time of parting the river seems steeped in moonlight;
忽闻水上琵琶声，主人忘归客不发。
Suddenly out on the water a lute is heard;
The host forgets to turn back, the guest delays going.
寻声暗问弹者谁?琵琶声停欲语迟。
Seeking the sound in the dark, we ask who is the player.
The lute is silent, hesitant the reply.
移船相近邀相见，添酒回灯重开宴。
Rowing closer, we ask if we may meet the musician,
Call for more wine, trim the lamp and resume our feast;
千呼万唤始出来，犹抱琵琶半遮面。
Only after a thousand entreaties does she appear,
Her face half-hidden behind the lute in her arms.
转轴拨弦三两声，未成曲调先有情。
She tunes up and plucks the strings a few times,
Touching our hearts before even the tune is played;
弦弦掩抑声声思，似诉平生不得志。
Each chord strikes a pensive note
As if voicing the disillusion of a lifetime;
低眉信手续续弹，说尽心中无限事。
Her head is bent, her fingers stray over the strings
Pouring out the infinite sorrows of her heart.
轻拢慢捻抹复挑，初为《霓裳》后《六幺》。
Lightly she pinches in the strings, slowly she strums and plucks them;
First The Rainbow Garments, then The Six Minor Notes.
大弦嘈嘈如急雨，小弦切切如私语。
The high notes wail like pelting rain,
The low notes whisper like soft confidences;
嘈嘈切切错杂弹，大珠小珠落玉盘。
Wailing and whispering interweave
Like pearls large and small cascading on a plate of jade,
间关莺语花底滑，幽咽泉流冰下难。
Like a warbling oriole gliding below the blossom,
Like a mountain brook purling down a bank,
冰泉冷涩弦凝绝，凝绝不通声暂歇。
Till the brook turns to ice, the strings seem about snap,
About to snap, and for one instant all is still
别有幽愁暗恨生，此时无声胜有声。
Only an undertone of quiet grief
Is more poignant in the silence than any sound;
银瓶乍破水浆迸，铁骑突出刀枪鸣。
Then a silver bottle is smashed, out gushes the water,
Armoured riders charge, their swords and lances clang!
曲终收拨当心画，四弦一声如裂帛。
When the tune ends, she draws her pick full across
And the four strings give a sound like the tearing of silk.
东船西舫悄无言，唯见江心秋月白。
Right and left of the boat all is silence —
We see only the autumn moon, silver in midstream.
沉吟放拨插弦中，整顿衣裳起敛容。
Pensively she puts the pick between the strings,
Straightens her clothes, rises and composes herself.
自言本是京城女，家在虾蟆陵下住。
She is, she says, a girl from the capital
Whose family once lived at the foot of Toad Hill.
十三学得琵琶成，名属教坊第一部。
At thirteen she learned to play the lute
And ranked first among the musicians;
曲罢曾教善才服，妆成每被秋娘妒。
Her playing was admired by the old masters,
Her looks were the envy of other courtesans;
五陵年少争缠头，一曲红绡不知数。
Youths from wealthy districts vied in their gifts to engage her,
A single song brought her countless rolls of red silk;
钿头银篦击节碎，血色罗裙翻酒污。
Men smashed jeweled and silver trinkets to mark the beat;
Silk skirts as red as blood were stained by spilt wine.
今年欢笑复明年，秋月春风等闲度。
Pleasure and laughter from one year to the next.
While the autumn moon and spring breeze passed unheeded.
弟走从军阿姨死，暮去朝来颜色故。
Then her brother joined the army, her aunt died,
The days and nights slipped by and her beauty fades,
门前冷落鞍马稀，老大嫁作商人妇。
No more carriages and horsemen thronged her gate,
And growing old she became a merchant's wife.
商人重利轻别离，前月浮梁买茶去。
The merchant thought only of profit: to seek it he leaves her.
Two months ago he went to Fuliang to buy tea,
去来江口守空船，绕船月明江水寒。
Leaving her alone in the boat at the mouth of the river;
All around the moonlight is bright, the river is cold,
夜深忽梦少年事，梦啼妆泪红阑干。
And late at night, dreaming of her girlhood,
She cries in her sleep, staining her rouged cheeks with tears.
我闻琵琶已叹息，又闻此语重唧唧。
The music of her lute has made me sign,
And now she tells this plaintive tale of sorrow;
同是天涯沦落人，相逢何必曾相识!
We are both ill-starred, drifting on the face of the earth;
No matter if we were strangers before this encounter.
我从去年辞帝京，谪居卧病浔阳城。
Last year I bade the imperial city farewell;
A demoted official, I lay ill in Xunyang;
浔阳地僻无音乐，终岁不闻丝竹声。
Xunyang is a paltry place without any music,
For one year I heard no wind instruments, no strings.
住近湓江地低湿，黄芦苦竹绕宅生。
Now I live on the low, damp flat by the River Pen,
Round my house yellow reeds and bitter bamboos grow rife;
其间旦暮闻何物?杜鹃啼血猿哀鸣。
From dawn till dusk I hear no other sounds
But the wailing of night-jars and the moaning of apes.
春江花朝秋月夜，往往取酒还独倾。
On a day of spring blossoms by the river or moonlit night in autumn
I often call for wine and drink alone;
岂无山歌与村笛，呕哑嘲哳难为听。
Of course, there are rustic songs and village pipes,
But their shrill discordant notes grate on my ears;
今夜闻君琵琶语，如听仙乐耳暂明。
Tonight listening to your lute playing
Was like hearing fairy music; it gladdened my ears.
莫辞更坐弹一曲，为君翻作琵琶行。
Don't refuse, but sit down and play another tune,
And I'll write a Song of the Lute Player for you.
感我此言良久立，却坐促弦弦转急。
Touched by my words, she stands there for some time,
Then goes back to her seat and played with quickened tempo
凄凄不似向前声，满座重闻皆掩泣。
Music sadder far than the first melody,
And at the sound not a man of us has dry eyes.
座中泣下谁最多?江州司马青衫湿。
The assistant prefect of Jiangzhou is so moved
That his blue coat is wet with tears.
创作背景：
《琵琶行》(pí pa xíng)创作于元和十一年(公元816年)，为七言古诗。白居易任谏官时，直言敢谏，同情民间疾苦，写了大量的讽谕诗，触怒了唐宪宗，得罪了权贵。元和十年，宰相武元衡被藩镇李师道派人刺杀。白居易情急之中上书请捕刺客，触犯了权贵的利益，被指责越职奏事，贬为江州刺史;又进而诬陷他作《赏花》《新井》诗“甚伤名教”，再贬江州司马。江州当时被看成是“蛮瘴之地”，江州司马虽然名义上是刺史的佐史，实际上是一种闲散职务，这对白居易来说是一种莫大的嘲弄。他的被贬其实是一桩冤案，他连遭打击，心境凄凉，满怀郁愤。次年(既元和十一年)送客湓浦(pén pǔ)口，遇到琵琶女，创作出这首传世名篇。
《琵琶行》作于唐宪宗元和十一年(公元816年)秋天，时白居易四十五岁，任江州司马。白居易在元和十年以前先是任左拾遗，后又任左赞善大夫。元和十年六月，唐朝藩镇势力派刺客在长安街头刺死了宰相武元衡，刺伤了御史中丞裴度，朝野大哗。藩镇势力在朝中的代言人又进一步提出要求罢免裴度，以安藩镇的“反侧”之心。这时白居易挺身而出，坚决主张讨贼，认为否则国将不国。白居易这种主张本来是对的，但因为他平素写讽喻诗得罪了许多朝廷的权贵，于是有人就说他官小位卑，擅越职分。再加上有人给他罗织罪名，于是贬之为江州司马。江州的.州治在今江西省九江市。司马是刺史的助手，听起来也像是不错，但实际上在中唐时期这个职位是专门安置“犯罪”官员的，是变相发配到某地去接受监督看管的。这件事对白居易影响很大，是他思想变化的转折点，从此他早期的斗争锐气逐渐销磨，消极情绪日渐增多。
《琵琶行》作于他贬官到江州的第二年，作品借着叙述琵琶女的高超演技和她的凄凉身世，抒发了作者个人政治上受打击、遭贬斥的抑郁悲凄之情。在这里，诗人把一个琵琶女视为自己的风尘知己，与她同病相怜，写人写己，哭己哭人，宦海的浮沉、生命的悲哀，全部融合为一体，因而使作品具有不同寻常的感染力。
诗前的小序介绍了长诗所述故事发生的时间、地点以及琵琶女其人，和作者写作此诗的缘起，实际上它已经简单地概括了后面长诗的基本内容。左迁：指降职、贬官。湓浦口：湓水与长江的汇口，在今九江市西。京都声：首都长安的韵味，一方面指曲调的地域特征，一方面也是指演技高超，非一般地方所有。善才：唐代用以称琵琶演奏家。命酒：派人整备酒宴。悯然，伤心的样子。恬然：安乐的样子。迁谪意：指被降职、被流放的悲哀。作者说他被贬到九江一年来，每天都很快乐，只有今天听了琵琶女的演奏，才勾起了他被流放的悲哀。这种说法是写文章的需要，读者当然不会相信他。
作者简介：
白居易(772年-846年)，字乐天，号香山居士，又号醉吟先生，祖籍太原，到其曾祖父时迁居下邽，生于河南新郑。是唐代伟大的现实主义诗人，唐代三大诗人之一。白居易与元稹共同倡导新乐府运动，世称“元白”，与刘禹锡并称“刘白”。白居易的诗歌题材广泛，形式多样，语言平易通俗，有“诗魔”和“诗王”之称。官至翰林学士、左赞善大夫。公元846年，白居易在洛阳逝世，葬于香山。有《白氏长庆集》传世，代表诗作有《长恨歌》、《卖炭翁》、《琵琶行》等。