野草 Wild Grass5 / 22

我的失戀 My Lost Love

我的所愛在山腰；My beloved dwells on the mountainside;

我的所爱在山腰；

想去尋她山太高，I would go and find her, but the mountain's too high,

想去寻她山太高，

低頭無法淚沾袍。I bow my head, helpless, tears soaking my robe.

低头无法泪沾袍。

愛人贈我百蝶巾；My love gave me a handkerchief embroidered with a hundred butterflies;

爱人赠我百蝶巾；

回她什麽：貓頭鷹。What did I give her in return: an owl.

回她什么：猫头鹰。

從此翻臉不理我，From then on she turned her face from me and paid me no heed,

从此翻脸不理我，

不知何故兮使我心驚。I know not why—it made my heart leap with fright.

不知何故兮使我心惊。

我的所愛在鬧市；My beloved dwells in the busy marketplace;

我的所爱在闹市；

想去尋她人擁擠，I would go and find her, but the crowds are too thick,

想去寻她人拥挤，

仰頭無法淚沾耳。I tilt my head back, helpless, tears soaking my ears.

仰头无法泪沾耳。

愛人贈我雙燕圖；My love gave me a painting of a pair of swallows;

爱人赠我双燕图；

回她什麽：冰糖壺盧。What did I give her in return: candied haws on a stick.

回她什么：冰糖壶卢。

從此翻臉不理我，From then on she turned her face from me and paid me no heed,

从此翻脸不理我，

不知何故兮使我胡塗。I know not why—it left me all befuddled.

不知何故兮使我胡涂。

我的所愛在河濱；My beloved dwells by the riverbank;

我的所爱在河滨；

想去尋她河水深，I would go and find her, but the river runs too deep,

想去寻她河水深，

歪頭無法淚沾襟。I turn my head aside, helpless, tears soaking my collar.

歪头无法泪沾襟。

愛人贈我金錶索，My love gave me a gold watch-chain,

爱人赠我金表索，

回她什麽：發汗藥。What did I give her in return: sweat-inducing medicine.

回她什么：发汗药。

從此翻臉不理我，From then on she turned her face from me and paid me no heed,

从此翻脸不理我，

不知何故兮使我神經衰弱。I know not why—it gave me neurasthenia.

不知何故兮使我神经衰弱。

我的所愛在豪家；My beloved dwells in a grand household;

我的所爱在豪家；

想去尋她兮沒有汽車，I would go and find her, but I have no motorcar,

想去寻她兮没有汽车，

搖頭無法淚如麻。I shake my head, helpless, tears falling thick as hemp.

摇头无法泪如麻。

愛人贈我玫瑰花；My love gave me a rose;

爱人赠我玫瑰花；

回她什麽：赤練蛇。What did I give her in return: a red-banded snake.

回她什么：赤练蛇。

從此翻臉不理我，From then on she turned her face from me and paid me no heed,

从此翻脸不理我，

不知何故兮——由她去罷。I know not why—so let her go, then.

不知何故兮——由她去罢。

（一九二四年十月三日。）(October 3, 1924.)

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What it’s about

The one comic poem in the book, and a parody with a precise target: four stanzas that borrow the shape of 張衡's 四愁詩 and fill it with junk. My love is halfway up the mountain; I would go and look for her but the mountain is too high, and lowering my head I cannot stop my tears wetting my gown. Then she is in the busy market, where the crowd is too thick; then by the river, which is too deep; then in a rich man's house, which he cannot reach for want of a motor car — and each time he tilts his head a different way and cries onto a different piece of clothing.

The gifts are where it turns. She gives him a hundred-butterfly kerchief and he sends back an owl; a picture of paired swallows, and he sends back a stick of candied haws; a gold watch-chain, and he sends back a dose of sweating medicine; roses, and he sends back a red banded snake. Every stanza ends with her cutting him dead and with him wondering what on earth the reason could be, which leaves him startled, then muddled, then neurasthenic, and finally shrugging: 由她去罷, let her go. Lu Xun's own preface says he wrote it because the lovelorn poetry then in fashion disgusted him, and the joke is exactly that — the form of heartbreak kept perfectly intact while the feeling inside it is replaced by an owl.

When it was written 背景

Dated 3 October 1924 and subtitled a piece of new doggerel in the old manner. Its publication is a small event in modern Chinese literary history: the 晨報副刊 had it in proof and the editor pulled it, 孫伏園 quarrelled over that and resigned, and the weekly 語絲 which grew out of the quarrel printed the poem in December 1924 — so the magazine that went on to carry all of 野草 exists partly because of this joke. For a learner it is the shortest text in the collection and the one that most rewards reading aloud: rhymed lines of five to seven syllables, a frame you have learned after one stanza, and the 兮 of classical lament dropped in to keep the mock-antique register audible.

Words in this chapter 生词