“But when two rabbits run side by side, / How can you tell the female from the male?”

Edited 9 Sep '22: revised translation

Xue Tao (c.770–832) was a courtesan and poet who spent her adult life in Chengdu, with a successful enough literary career that she was officially appointed the unofficial secretary to the governor of Sichuan (she couldn’t be an official Secretary because woman, so he gave her the job title Editor, which was not used by the bureau of personnel). A collection of 450-odd of her poems survived until at least the 14th century, of which about 100 are known today (mostly in Complete Tang Poems chapter 803), more than for any other Tang woman poet.

All of which made piqued my interest into picking one at random to translate.


Presented to Yang Yunzhong, Xue Tao

Advanced scholar Yang Yunzhong committed an offense and was committed to Chengdu prefectural prison. One night, he dreamed a woman told him, “I am Xue Tao. Hidden from this room is your death,” then she immediately presented this poem:

The jadeite water-clock drips long, the lamp is bright, so bright.
Eastern wall and western wall—when will shadows appear?
The moon shines bright outside the window, cuckoo’s crying clear:
Endure, you lonely soul—worry about the longest night.

赠杨蕴中
〈进士杨蕴中，得罪下成都府狱，夜梦一妇人曰：“吾即薛涛也，幽死此室。”因赠此诗。〉
玉漏声长灯耿耿，
东墙西墙时见影。
月明窗外子规啼，
忍使孤魂愁夜永。


I have questions. The biggest one being: Is the poem his or hers? CTP credits her, but it’s not clear she claimed authorship. In case you’re wondering BTW, Yang was supposedly reprieved shortly after this dream visitation. The large hawk-cuckoo (Hierococcyx sparverioides) is a summer singer that continues calling well after dusk. Of the two words rendered as “long,” the one in the first line has the connotation of long-lasting (as in Song of Lasting Regret) and the one in the last line has the connotation of eternal. Also: *cough* hello rhymed translation.

---L.

Index of Chinese translations

Subject quote from Ballad of Mulan, anonymous tr. Jack Yuan.