Drinking Wine
饮酒二十首并序
In my retired life, I have little amusement, especially now that the nights are dragging out. Whenever I get some good wine, I take a sip every evening. When I drink alone, I will soon get drunk. In my drunkenness, I often write a few lines of verse to amuse myself. As the sheets pile up in disorder, I ask an old friend of mine to copy them out for better entertainment.
余闲居寡欢，兼比夜已长，偶有名酒，无夕不饮。顾影独尽，忽焉复醉。既醉之後，辄题数句自娱。纸墨遂多，辞无诠次。聊命故人书之，以为欢笑尔。
The things may live and die, rise and fall;
This everlasting law applies to all.
To see Shao Ping grow melons in spring time,
Who’d think he was a marquis in his prime?
As cold and heat rotate in a train,
So human fortunes often wax and wane.
Sagacious men who understands this truth
Lead a hermit’s life from early youth.
Be quick and hand a cup of wine to me
So that I’ll spend the nighttime in high glee.
其一
衰荣无定在，彼此更共之。
邵生瓜田中，宁似东陵时！
寒暑有代谢，人道每如兹。
达人解其会，逝将不复疑；
忽与一樽酒，日夕欢相持。
It’s said that good breeds good and ill breeds ill,
But Loyal Brothers perished on West Hill.
If good and ill won’t win their proper prize,
I wonder where on earth the lesson lies.
At ninety, Rong the hermit was so poor,
In worse conditions than before for sure.
Had he not dared be poor and feel no shame，
How could he have preserved his timeless fame?
其二
积善云有报，夷叔在西山。
善恶苟不应，何事空立言！
九十行带索，饥寒况当年。
不赖固穷节，百世当谁传。
Losing reason for a thousand years,
Man tends to go against his genuine ideas.
To keep away from wine for fear of blame,
The man pursues in vain the mundane fame.
He values his existence as sublime,
But death is doomed to grasp him in due time.
No matter how long human life will last,
As swift as lightening it will soon be passed.
Valuing fame for years and years in life,
What can he hope to gain in worldly strife?
其三
道丧向千载，人人惜其情。
有酒不肯饮，但顾世间名。
所以贵我身，岂不在一生？
一生复能几，倏如流电惊。
鼎鼎百年内，持此欲何成！
A restive bird is on an aimless flight.
Even when the day approaches night.
When it flutters up and down the skies,
Its nightly songs become its wails and sighs.
With shrilling cries that fit its lofty quest,
It swirls around and loves the place the best.
All at once it sees a tall pine-tree
And flies back from afar in utmost glee.
The chilly winds have ripped the leaves of trees,
Save this pine-tree that grows at fullest ease.
As it has found its shelter, safe and sound,
It'll never leave the tree on secure ground.
其四
栖栖失群鸟，日暮犹独飞。
徘徊无定止，夜夜声转悲。
厉响思清远，去来何依依。
因值孤生松，敛翮遥来归。
劲风无荣木，此荫独不衰。
托身已得所，千载不相违。