English Rendering
（Langya Valley is a green paradise of rolling mountains and flowing streams, where my mentor Ouyang Xiu (affectionately known as 'The Drinking Lord'), relished the natural melodies and the company of friends over wine. It was here that he penned his famous prose, “The Drinker’s Pavilion.” A decade later, the musician Shen Zun was inspired by Xiu’s work and visited the valley with his qin, leading to the creation of the successful ci-tune “The Drinking Lord”, which sensationally captured the sound of the running stream. Xiu loved the music and wrote a beautiful ci-poem for the tune. However, the rhyming lines seemed to drift apart from the musical notes. According to “The Ci-songs of Chu State”《楚词》, many musicians tried to create new tunes for the ci poem, but the music was often overshadowed by the verses. Now, over thirty years since their passing, Cui Xian, a master of qin music and Daoist monk from Lushan Mountain (Daoist name ‘Jade Stream’), came to me in Huangzhou seeking a ci-poem to fulfil his desire to complete Zun’s ci-tune.）
Sonorous, like pebbles dancing on stones，
Softened in echo thru the valley, it’s fulfilled.
Who’s playing? Only the Drinking Lord knows.
The soothing breeze whispers in the moonlit hills.
The music vibrates the heart of dreaming dews.
Even the best ears on earth can be overwhelmed.
It’s a silent symphony on Someone’s fingers, --
a grace of the celestial, a solace for sleepless souls.
Xiu chanted here to the stream’s high and low.
Now he’s gone, his vibes linger on silent notes.
Mountains rejuvenate bare areas here and there.
Rivers could run backward, though very rare.
Xiu has left us forever to the isle of immortals,
Though we miss him here chanting his ci-poems.
This tune holds his earthly joy in a proud glow,
Weaving two or three chords along with the flow.
