天邊月

• 《天邊月》 The moon at heaven’s verge
招子庸作，金文泰譯

「天邊月，似簾鈎，泛在長江任去流。月呀！你有團圓人自會等候，總係眼前虧缺恨難收。我想人世咁長唔得咁就手，大抵好極人生都有一樣愁。你睇文君新寡重去尋佳偶，班姬團扇尚悲秋。唉！心想透。待等八月中旬候。月呀，總有一箇團圓却在後頭。」

The moon at heaven’s verge is like a sickle hook;
Its shimmer floats on the long river and, nothing loth, flows down the stream.
O Moon! You have a time when your orb will be full: men can await that day.
Yet it is hard to check regret for the wane we see before our eyes.
Methinks, since human generations are so long-lived, they cannot all be towardly:
At its close a man’s life, though goodly, yet has one phase of sorrow.
Look you! Man-kwan, new widowed, still goes in quest of a good match.
On the round fan of Pan Ke a lament for autumn is still inscribed.
Ah! My heart has pondered this throughly.
Wait till the mid-decade of the eighth month is past.
O Moon! Thereafter your orb will surely grow round once more.