潜龙在渊：致阿列斯托维奇 【古风】【ENG annotated subtitles】

Описание: For subtitles with annotations explaining the cultural/historical references, as well as better auto-translatability into other languages, please choose the English subtitles rather than the Chinese.

寒飙卷浪大河西，
故国宫阙望已迷。
曾为春风安万姓，
化作孤鸿影自凄。
昔日谈兵金殿上，
温言如酒解忧戚。
众醉独醒何足道，
谗言似雨湿青衣。

伍员忠谏终罹祸，悬目高城看覆亡。
屈子孤吟泽畔远，满腔清烈付沧浪。
掩耳唯恐惊晓梦，
争呈媚骨列庙堂。
流亡客，自彷徨，
满头霜雪对夕阳。

然彼灵均沉水底，
此公按剑立波旁。
莫道楚江无归处，
谁言孤臣必自戕？
非效投江求清白，
潜龙在渊候天光。
一死生，齐彭殇，
心有涅槃大梦长。

若得天门重开启，
不辞白发换农桑。
死而复生岂虚诞，
民心不死即还邦。
看归金台云散后，
依然谈笑定八荒。
劫波度尽存余火，
再向人间话短长。

Bitter gale rolls the waves of the Great River westward,
The view of the palace is lost in mist.
Once the spring wind that soothed the myriad souls,
Now become the shadow of a lone bird.
In days past, he spoke of soldiery within the golden hall,
His warm words flowed like wine to dissolve the people's grief.
But if the world is drunk and one alone is sober[1]—what more is there to say?
Slander drenched his robes like rain.

Wu Yun loyally remonstrated and met with ruin,
His eyes hung high on city gates to watch the fall descend. [2]
Qu Yuan chanted alone by the distant marsh,
His heart of pure intensity was entrusted to the dark tide. [3]
Others cover their ears, fearing to startle their dawn dreams,
And race to bend their pliant spines within the halls of state.
The wanderer in exile paces to and fro,
Hair whitening with frost under the setting sun.

Yet where Qu Yuan sank beneath the waves,
This lord holds his sword and stands apart at the shore.
Speak not of the River Chu as a path of no return,
Who says the exiled minister has martyrdom alone?
He emulates not the leap to seek a spotless name,
But the dragon in the abyss[4], awaiting Heaven’s light.
Gazing upon death and life with equal equanimity,
His heart holds Nirvana[5], his dream is long and vast.

Should Heaven’s Gate swing open wide once more,
There will be no retirement in the name of white hairs.
To die and rise again—call not such tales absurd;
If the people’s hearts do not die he’ll yet come home.
Watch him return to the golden terrace when the clouds have blown away,
Still talking and laughing, bringing order to the fray.
When the waves of calamity are crossed, and the embers still remain,
He will turn to the world of men and tell his tales again.

[1] A famous line from The Fisherman, an ancient text about Qu Yuan’s exile
[2] Wu Yun (Zixu) was an ancient minister who was ordered to commit suicide over his aggressive opposition to the king’s policies. Before he died, he told others to cut out his eyes and hang them from the city gates so he could watch the kingdom fall
[3] Qu Yuan (Lingjun) was an ancient poet and minister slandered and exiled for his righteous counsel, who committed suicide by drowning when he heard of the sack of his kingdom’s capital.
[4] “The Submerged Dragon in the Abyss” is a hexagram arrangement in the I Ching symbolizing laying low and accumulating one’s power in preparation for action.
[5] Nirvana in Chinese culture has connotations of phoenix-like rebirth-by-fire not present in the Indian original