A Lane in the Rain
Dai Wangshu
Alone holding an oil-paper umbrella,
I wander along a long
Solitary lane in the rain,
Hoping to encounter
A girl like a bouquet of lilacs
Gnawed by anxiety and resentment.
A girl
The colour of lilacs,
The fragrance of lilacs,
With the worries of lilacs,
Feeling melancholy in the rain,
Plaintive and hesitating.
She wanders along the solitary lane in the rain,
Holding an oil-paper umbrella
Just as I do,
Just like me,
Walking slowly in silence,
Aloof, sad and melancholy.
Silently she comes closer,
Closer, giving me
A glance like a sigh;
Then she floats past
Like a dream,
Dreary and blank like a dream.
Like a lilac
Floating past in a dream,
the girl floats past me;
Silently she goes further and further,
To the crumbling wall,
Out of the lane in the rain.
In the mournful melody of the rain,
Her colour has faded,
Her fragrance has disappeared,
Vanished into the void;
Even her glance like a sigh,
Melancholy like lilacs.
Alone holding an oil-paper umbrella,
I wander along a long
Solitary lane in the rain,
Hoping to pass
A girl like a bouquet of lilacs
Gnawed by anxiety and resentment.
The Alley in the Rain
Holding an umbrella, I'm alone
Wandering about the long, long,
Lonely alley in the rain,
Hoping to encounter
A girl who bears her melancholy
Like a lilac flower.
She has
The color of a lilac,
The fragrance of a lilac,
And the melancholy of a lilac.
She looks sorrowful in the rain,
Sorrowful and depressed.
She paces the lonely alley,
Holding an umbrella,
Like me,
Just like me—
Walking quietly and slowly
In coldness, solitude and melancholy.
Quietly she comes close,
Close to me and casts
A glance, like a sigh.
She drifts away
Like a dream—
So dreary and deep.
Like a lilac flower drifting by
In a dream,
The girl passes by me;
Quietly she is walking away and away,
To a broken hedge,
To the end of the alley in the rain.
In the plaintive tune of the rain
Her color fades,
Her fragrance disappears,
So do her sighing glance
And lilac-like melancholy.
Holding an umbrella, I'm alone
Wandering about the long, long,
Lonely alley in the rain,
Hoping to see passing by
A girl who bears her melancholy
Like a lilac flower.
丁祖馨译版折叠
Rainy Alley
Dai Wangshu
Holding a light umbrella
I walk back and forth alone
In a silent, rainy alley,
A long, an endlessly long alley,
Hoping to meet
A girl as sweet, as blue
As the lilac bud that knits her brows.
As graceful as lilac,
As fragrant as lilac,
As sad as lilac:
Back and forth she walks,
Worried in the rain,
Sad in the rain.
Holding a light umbrella
Back and forth she walks, and walks,
In this silent, rainy alley,
As I pace and plod,
Silent, alone,
Wearing my solitude, my sadness and pain.
Quietly she walks close by me,
Then closer, then closer,
Casting a glance
As if of a sign,
She floats on by me
Plaintive as a dream,
A hazy dream,
A sad dream.
As if what flies by me
Is a branch of lilac in a dream,
The girl flits by me
In silence, in a distance
More distant, more distant,
Floats to a ruined wattled wall
At the end of this rainy alley.
And her roselike color fades,
Her sweet, sweet fragrance fades,
To the sad tune of the rain.
Her glance disappears, her sign disappears,
Her lilac-like sadness.
Holding a light umbrella
I walk back and forth alone
In a silent, rainy alley,
A long, an endlessly long alley,
Hoping to meet
A girl as sweet, as blue
As the lilac bud that knits her brows.
