The Fisherman
- Poetry of Su Shi

《渔父四首》

English Rendering

The fisherman will drink.

And you know where he goes.

All at once of his fish and crabs he will dispose.

Then he will drink his fill and will not stop 

Till drunk:he need not pay nor be paid by the wineshop.

The fisherman is drunk,

His straw cloak seems to dance.

He looks for his way back as if in a trance.

His light boat drifts with its short oars slanting sideway,

Woke up,he knows not where he is carried away.

The fisherman wakes up

At noon on the spring stream.

Falling flowers and catkins fly into his dream.

Woke up,he is still dreaming;drunk,he wakes at last,

Laughing at the human world both present and past.

The fisherman laughs 

And light gulls will plane

On the silent river o'erspread with wind and rain.

-A busy horseman on the bank opens his mouth,

Asking me for my small boat to ferry him south.

The Fisherman by Su Shi
The Fisherman by Su Shi

Original Text (中文原文)

其一

渔父饮,谁家去,鱼蟹一时分付。

酒无多少醉为期,彼此不论钱数。

其二

渔父醉,蓑衣舞,醉里却寻归路。

轻舟短棹任斜横,醒后不知何处。

其三

渔父醒,春江午,梦断落花飞絮。

酒醒还醉醉还醒,一笑人间今古。

其四

渔父笑,轻鸥举,漠漠一江风雨。

江边骑马是官人,借我孤舟南渡。

Analysis & Context

1085

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.

Reading Between the Lines

Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.

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