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蜀道难 Chinese text and audio recording
蜀道难
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作者: 李白
　
噫吁戏，危乎高哉！
蜀道之难，难于上青天！
蚕丛及鱼凫，开国何茫然。
尔来四万八千岁，不与秦塞通人烟。
西当太白有鸟道，可以横绝峨眉巅。
地崩山摧壮士死，然后天梯石栈相钩连。
上有六龙回日之高标，下有冲波逆折之回川。
黄鹤之飞尚不得过，猿猱欲度愁攀援。
青泥何盘盘，百步九折萦岩峦。
扪参历井仰胁息，以手抚膺坐长叹。
问君西游何时还，畏途躔岩不可攀。
但见悲鸟号古木，雄飞雌从绕林间。
又闻子规啼夜月，愁空山，蜀道之难，难于上青天！
使人听此凋朱颜。
连峰去天不盈尺，枯松倒挂倚绝壁。
飞湍瀑流争喧虺，砰崖转石万壑雷。
其险也如此，嗟尔远道之人胡为乎哉！
剑阁峥嵘而崔嵬，一夫当关，万夫莫开。
所守或匪亲，化为狼与豺。
朝避猛虎，夕避长蛇，磨牙吮血，杀人如麻。
锦城虽云乐，不如早还家。
蜀道之难，难于上青天！侧身西望长咨嗟。

蜀道难 pinyin and English translation

蜀道难
Shǔ dào nán
The difficulty of the Shu Road
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作者: 李白
zuózhě : Lǐ Bái
Author: Li Bai / Li Po

　
噫吁戏，危乎高哉！
yī xū xì , wēi hū Gāo Zāi !
Ah, yikes! So dangerous, so high! ( 乎 classic particle to show astonishment; 哉 exclamatory particle)

蜀道之难，难于上青天！
Shǔ dào zhī nán , nán yú shàng qīngtiān !
The difficulty of the Shu Road is more difficult than going up to the blue sky. ( 于 conjunction -than )

蚕丛及鱼凫，开国何茫然。
cán Cóng Jí yú fú , kāi guó Hé Mángrán .
Can Cong and Yu Fu, their founding of the state of (Shu) is so obscure. (According to legend, both Can Cong and Yu Fu are the names of ancient rulers of Shu; 开国何茫然 means – the ancient rulers founded and developed Shu long time ago, all the history is so distant and hard to trace now. )

尔来四万八千岁，不与秦塞通人烟。
ěr lái sìwàn bāqiān suì , bù yǔ qín sàitōng rén yān .
Up to the present, it has been forty-eight thousand years, Shu has never been communicating with people live at Qin pass. (人烟 means sign of human habitation, 通人烟 means people communicate or contact with other people.)

西当太白有鸟道，可以横绝峨眉巅。
xī dāng tàibái yǒu niǎo dào , kěyǐ héng jué érméi diān .
Its west faces Mt. Tai Bai, there are routes only for birds to fly through to reach horizontally to the summit of Er Mei mountain. (鸟道, roads only a bird can manage which means steep dangerous roads.)

地崩山摧壮士死，然后天梯石栈相钩连。
dì bēng shān cuī zhuàng shì sǐ , ránhòu tiān tī shí zhànxiāng gōu lián .
Earth collapsed, mountain got destroyed and heroes died; then heaven ladders and stone trestlework hooked and connected with each other. (These two lines mean heroes sacrificed themselves to build roads in the mountains in Shu.)

上有六龙回日之高标，下有冲波逆折之回川。
shàng yǒu liù Lóng huírì zhī gāo biāo , xià yǒu chōng bō nì shé zhī huí chuān .
On the top, there is the high sign of six dragons circling the sun, and below, there is a spiraling river with twisting and bending rushing waves.
(六龙回日, according to legend, Sun God drew a carriage which was led by six dragons, and when the carriage reached to the top of mountain, the carriage had to retreat. Thus, 六龙回日 signifies that the mountains of Shu are extremely high.)

黄鹤之飞尚不得过，猿猱欲度愁攀援。
Huáng hè zhī fēi shàng bùdé guò , yuán náo yù dù chóu pān yuán .
Even the flight of yellow cranes could not pass it. Apes and monkeys wanted to across but were worried about the climbing. (Apes and monkeys were worried their safety for climbing up, for the mountains were too steep and treacherous.)

青泥何盘盘，百步九折萦岩峦。
qīng ní Hé Pánpán , yībǎi bù jiǔ Shé Yíngyán luán .
Mt. Qingni, how twisting and turning it is! In hundred steps (I walked), it bends nine times to wind up the rocky mountain range.

扪参历井仰胁息，以手抚膺坐长叹。
mén cān lì jǐng yǎng xié xī , yǐ shǒu fǔ yīng zuò chángtàn.
Pressing uneven breathings, glazing through Jing (one of the 28 constellations of Chinese astronomy), I faced up and was afraid to breathe. With a hand stroking the chest, I sat down and sigh deeply.

问君西游何时还，畏途躔岩不可攀。
wèn jūn Xīyóu héshí huán , wèi tú chán yán bùkě pān .
I ask you when will you return from your western traveling? I was afraid the long journey will be tangled with unclimbable rocks.

但见悲鸟号古木，雄飞雌从绕林间。
dàn jiàn bēi niǎo hào Gǔ mù , xióngfēicí cóng rǎo Lín Jiān .
I only see miserable birds that cry in ancient trees; male bird flies and female bird follows flying around in the forest.

又闻子规啼夜月，愁空山，蜀道之难，难于上青天！
yòu Wén Zǐguī tí yè yuè , chóu kōng shān , Shǔ dào zhī nán , nán yú shàng qīngtiān !
Again I heard cuckoos weep aloud during the night noon time for worrying the emptiness of mountain. The difficulty of the Shu Road is more difficult than going up to the blue sky.

使人听此凋朱颜。
shǐ rén tīng cǐ diāo Zhū Yán .
The hearing of this made people wither youthful face. (朱颜 has two meanings. It refers to a woman’s beautiful face or a youthful and healthy face. )

连峰去天不盈尺，枯松倒挂倚绝壁。
Lián Fēngqù tiān bù yíng chǐ , kū sōng dǎo guà yǐ juébì .
Mountain peaks connecting with each other, their distance to the sky is lesser than one foot. Withered pine trees are hanging upside down and leaning on the steep cliffs. (尺: a Chinese foot / one-third of a meter.)

飞湍瀑流争喧虺，砰崖转石万壑雷。
fēi tuān bào liú zhēng xuān huī , pēng yá zhuǎn Shí Wàn léi .
Flying rushing water and flowing waterfall strive for making clamor and noises. They bang precipices, turn rocks and (the loud sounds are like) the thunder (that you can hear all over) ten thousand gullies.

其险也如此， 嗟爾遠道之人胡為乎哉！
qí xiǎn yě rúcǐ , jiē ěr yuǎn dào zhī rén hú wéihū zāi !
Its danger is also like this. Sigh, what are you people came from far away doing here?

剑阁峥嵘而崔嵬，一夫当关，万夫莫开。
Jiàngé zhēng róng ér cuī wéi , yī fū dāng guān , yīwàn fū mò kāi .
Jiangge is lofty and magnificent, however, it is also hazardous and precipitous. If one man holds pass, ten thousand men can not pass. ( 一夫当关，万夫莫开 is an idiom which means one man can successfully guide the pass against ten thousand enemies.)

所守或匪亲，化为狼与豺。
suǒ shǒu huò fěi qīn , huà wèi láng yǔ chái .
If the guiding person is not trustworthy, then he will become a wolf or ravenous beast. (When someone turns into 狼 (wolf) and 豺 (dog-like animal), then he will bring in great disaster.)

朝避猛虎，夕避长蛇，磨牙吮血，杀人如麻。
cháo bì měng hǔ , xī bì cháng shé , móyá shǔn xiě , shārén rú má .
When passengers came here, in the morning they have to escape fierce tiger and at night, they have to flee from long snake. Beasts grind their fangs, suck blood and kill people like scything flax.

锦城虽云乐，不如早还家。
jǐn chéng suī yún lè , bùrú zǎo huán jiā .
Although Jing City is a joyous city, it would be better to return home sooner.

蜀道之难，难于上青天！侧身西望长咨嗟。
Shǔ dào zhī nán , nán yú shàng qīngtiān ! cè shēn xī wàng cháng zī jiē .
The difficulty of the Shu Road is more difficult than going up to the blue sky. I stand sideways, look to west and I sigh deeply.

Translated by Shu

The genre of Shu Dao Nian Poem: Yue fu 乐府

The poetic form of Shu Dao Nian belongs to the genre of Yue fu (乐府), Music Bureau. Yue 乐 means music while fu 府 means bureau.

Yue fu are classical Chinese poems that are composed with folk song style. In 汉 Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), in the government, there was a music bureau that was dealing with music management, and it was in charge of collecting, writing the lyrics as well as performing folk songs and ballad. Afterward, people started naming poems which were composed in that folk song style Yuefu.

The poem lines of Yue fu have uneven length, however, generally speaking, a line with five characters is the most common. The term Yue fu covers original folk songs of ancient China which were written by common people, court imitations which were written by scholars who were serving the court, as well as poets of later Dynasties’ versions which were made with this kind folk song style. Among them, the most known poet is Li Bai (701-762).

Shu Dao Nan analysis:

Shu is the western part of Sichuan 四川 which in ancient Chinese was referred to as Ba-Shu (巴蜀) by combining the names of two independent kingdoms within the 四川 Sichuan Basin — the kingdoms of Ba and Shu. Ba included today’s eastern Sichuan, while Shu included 成都 Chengdu and the western Sichuan.

The whole poem is a continuous and elaborate narration of the difficulties in the access to the western Sichuan. The poem exhibits rich connotations of the expression about the jeopardy and fright of the Shu Road.

In style, the poem continues the Han Dynasty’s Yue fu genre, and it also develops a strict tonal pattern and rhyme scheme. The poem is embedded with the esthetic of magnificence.

As for the poetic intent of this poem, there are a few different sayings. (1) To reprimand 严武 Yan Wu. It is said that provincial governor of 剑南 Jiannan, 严武 Yanwu, wanted to harm 房琯 Fang Guan and 杜甫 Du Fu, Li Bai wrote this poem for he was worrying about Fang Guan and Du Fu’s safety. (2) Use the poem as an allegory to hint that during An-Shi Rebellion (安史之乱 An Shi shi luan), Emperor 玄宗 Xuanzong of 唐 Tang fled to Shu, and Li Bai wanted him to return sooner to capital 长安 Chang An. (3) Just to admire the natural magnificence of Shu. At that time, people all knew that 锦城 Jing City was a great and joyful place, however, they did not know the danger hidden on the way to Shu. Thus, Li Bai described and explained the difficulty on the path to Shu. (4) Li Bai created this poem to hint that his personal official career was difficult, his life experiences were frustrated and he did not feel that his talent was appreciated.

For the poet Li Bai’s background information, see the link of another Li Bai’s famous poem 清平調 Qing ping diao Pure and peaceful tune

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Analysis of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

文章 Wen Zhang 三百六十五里路 san bai liu shi wu li lu Three hundred sixty five miles of road

For lyrics, pinyin and translation, see
http://www.chinesetolearn.com/?p=3392