Delighting in Rain on a Spring Night
春夜喜雨

原著：杜甫
英文翻译：Prof. Stephen Owen (Harvard University)
From The Poetry of Du Fu, re-posted under the CCA-NCND 3.0 license.

好雨知时节，当春乃发生。
A good rain knows its appointed time,
right in spring it brings things to life.
随风潜入夜，润物细无声。
It enters the night unseen with the wind
and moistens things finely, without a sound.
野径云俱黑，江船火独明。
Over wilderness paths, the clouds are all black,
a boat on the river, its fire alone bright.
晓看红湿处，花重锦官城。
At daybreak look where it’s wet and red —
the flowers will be heavy in Brocade City.
学习笔记：

1. 喜雨：在庄稼需要的时候下的雨。估计直译“happy rain”的话，英文世界里还真没人会懂何为“开心雨”🤣。转述成“Delighting in rain”就等于是直接描写庄稼人遇上及时雨的喜悦了 —– 这里显然是人在体验着“delighting”这一情感。

2. 潜入夜：…enters the night unseen…

3. 云俱黑：…the clouds are all black. 原来“俱”解“all”.

3. 晓…: At daybreak … “晓”是作时间副词来解：at daybreak😍

4. Brocade City: 锦城，我现在才知道是成都的别名😆. “Brocade”字面意思是一种锦料。

Curated with study notes by:

Sue雪

Australian NAATI certified translator. Most interested in subtitling and trans-creation of websites.

My translation, your voice.

Header image: Microsoft stock image under CC licence