Lyrics [Xiao Quer] �曲儿 - 于归 | Marry

[renn]

[Xiao Quer] å°æ›²å„¿ -

| Marry^[1]

 

Lyrics: å°é±¼è莉 (Xiao Yu Luo Li)
Composition: åªæœ‰å½±å­ (Zhi You Ying Zi)
Arrangement: é‚“é• (Deng Di)

 

Lyrics translation by renn at www.onehallyu.com

 

 

传狼烟 é’锋如练 扫è’原
急弓弦 æˆ˜æ°”å¦‚å‡ æ‚¬ç¾½ç®­
æ›´å¹ç¾Œç¬›æˆŽè£…æ‹­é
我誓è¡å¯‡è¸å¹³å‘¼å»¶
望ç»å²­å­¤é› è°ä¸Žå…±å©µå¨Ÿ

chuán láng yÄn / qÄ«ng fÄ“ng rú liàn / sÇŽo huÄng yuán
jí gÅng xián / zhàn qì rú níng / xuán yÇ” jiàn
gÄ“ng chuÄ« qiÄng dí róng zhuÄng shì biàn
wǒ shì dàng kòu tà píng hū yán
wàng jué lÇng gÅ« yàn / shéi yÇ” gòng chán juÄn

[As] the flames of war^[2] spread, the white silk-like double-edged sword sweeps through the wilderness.
[As] the bowstring [fires] rapidly, the will to fight [is so thick it's] as if [it has] coagulated, suspending the arrows midair.
Continuously playing the Qiang flute^[3], wiping down the entirety of [my] martial attire with a cloth,
I vow to clear away the invaders and to trample over the northern nomads^[4].
Gazing at the steep, impossible to climb mountains and the lone wild goose separated from its flock, who do I have to share the beautiful moonlight with?


渡长河 白驹胜雪 è¸å±±æœˆ
似当年 玉辔红缨 赴新约
è§ä½ é£Žéœ²ä¸­ç«‹å†›å‰
æ如隔世é‡é€¢äºŽé‡Ž
åªè¡€æˆ˜åœ¨å³ 脉脉ä¸è¯­åƒè¨€

dù cháng hé / bái jÅ« shèng xuÄ› / tà shÄn yuè
sì dÄng nián / yù pèi hóng yÄ«ng / fù xÄ«n yuÄ“
jiàn nÇ fÄ“ng lù zhÅng lì jÅ«n qián
huǎng rú gé shì chóng féng yú yě
zhÇ xuè zhàn zài jí / mò mò bù yÇ” qiÄn yán

Crossing the long river, [my] whiter-than-the-snow horse takes a walk underneath the moon that hangs over the mountain.
[it's] like back then, [as I] went to keep a new appointment on my horse and with my spear^[5],
saw you standing in the wind at the front of an army,
As if [we were] reuniting in the wilderness in a different lifetime.
[it's] just a bloody battle is at hand, so [though] feeling affectionate, do not speak the thousands of words [that I wish to convey].


身åŽä¸‡é¡·çƒ½ç«ä»Šå¤œä¸”作红å¸ä¸€æŠ¹
哪管明æœå‰‘影刀光åŒè‘¬äº†ä½ æˆ‘
春秋ä¸å¿…候 纷乱ä»æºæ‰‹
生死如æµäº‘飞沫

shÄ“n hòu wàn qÇng fÄ“ng huÇ’ jÄ«n yè qiÄ› zuò hóng zhàng yÄ« mÇ’
nÇŽ guÇŽn míng zhÄo jiàn yÇng dÄo guÄng tóng zàng le nÇ wÇ’
chūn qiū bù bì hòu / fēn luàn réng xié shǒu
shÄ“ng sÇ rú liú yún fÄ“i mò

Though the flames of war [rage] behind [us] over acres and acres of land^[6], for tonight [let's just] close the red bed canopy^[7].
Who cares if come tomorrow the heated combat^[8] will bury both you and I.
[We] do not need to wait for the seasons. Despite the turmoil, [we] still hold each other's hand.
Life and death are like flowing clouds and flying spray.


城忽破 残风无常å·ä¸šç«
é“ç”²è½ èµ¤è¡€é£žæº…å·²æµ‘æµŠ
çµå°ä»…存一ä¸æ¸…澈
昔年许你ç¥æ·å‡¯æ­Œ
怀中血衣霞帔 映è‹ç©¹å¤±è‰²

chéng hū pò / cán fēng wú cháng juǎn yè huǒ
tiÄ› jiÇŽ luò / chì xuè fÄ“i jiàn yÇ húnzhuó
líng tái jÇn cún yÄ«sÄ« qÄ«ngchè
xÄ« nián xÇ” nÇ zhùjié kÇŽigÄ“
huái zhÅng xuè yÄ« xiá pèi / yìng cÄng qióng shÄ« sè

The city suddenly succumbs to the siege. The tattered wind of impermanence sweeps along the fires of hell.
The iron armor falls. The red blood that splatters is already turbid.
The heart only has a sliver of clearness left.
In the past [i had] promised you a song of triumph to celebrate [your] victory.
The wedding cape[-like] bloodstained garment^[9] in [my] arms makes the sky lose its color.


愿斟此星此夜此风此月åˆåºé…’一爵
å°Šå‰ä»Šè®¸ä»Šä¸–今生都入喉太烈
礼ä¹éŸ³æœªç­ 是战鼓未竭
你负我山河å²æœˆ

yuàn zhÄ“n cÇ xÄ«ng cÇ yè cÇ fÄ“ng cÇ yuè hé jÇn jiÇ” yÄ« jué
zÅ«n qián jÄ«n xÇ” jÄ«n shì jÄ«n shÄ“ng dÅu rù hóu tài liè
lÇ yuè yÄ«n wèi miè / shì zhàn gÇ” wèi jié
nÇ fù wÇ’ shÄn hé suì yuè

wish to pour a cupful^[10] of nuptial wine^[11] tonight [under] these stars, [in] this wind, [beneath] this moon.
In front of [our] elders, it's too much^[12] to swallow all of this place, this life, this lifetime.
The sound of the ceremonial music has yet to dissipate; it's that the war drums have yet to tire.
You owe me all the land and all the years.


愿斟此星此夜此风此月åˆåºä¸€çˆµ
æ­¤æ¯å†¥å†¥æ— äººæŽ¥
立剑为é“笔 划地为庚帖
无需é’å²å¢¨æ¥å†™
无凭此生歌已歇

yuàn zhÄ“n cÇ xÄ«ng cÇ yè cÇ fÄ“ng cÇ yuè hé jÇn yÄ« jué
cÇ bÄ“i míng míng wú rén jiÄ“
lì jiàn wéi tiÄ› bÇ / huà dì wèi gÄ“ng tiÄ›
wú xÅ« qÄ«ng shÇ mò lái xiÄ›
wú píng cÇ shÄ“ng gÄ“ yÇ xiÄ“

wish to pour a cupful of nuptial wine tonight [under] these stars, [in] this wind, [beneath] this moon.
[but] because of this thing called death^[13] there is no one to receive this cup.
erect my sword as the iron pen; cut the ground to make the marriage proposal^[14].
No need to use ink to write [it all] into the annals of history.
Without proof [of things having happened], in this life, the song has already come to a stop.



T/N:

[1] Though for elegance I translated it as "marry", 于归 is actually an old, classical verb of marriage as applied towards the female. In Chinese, "to marry" is differentiated between what the female does (出å«, or more simply, å«; "to be given in marriage") and  what the male does (迎娶, or  more simply, 娶; "to take a wife").

[2] The meaning of 狼烟 (lit. wolf smoke) as "flames of war" is a metaphorical extension of its literal meaning, which is the smoke from burning wolf dung, which is used as a beacon of alarm by border guards.

[3] 羌笛 is an ancient single reed instrument of the Qiang people that consists of two vertical pipes each with previously five, nowadays six, finger holes.

[4] 呼延 (Huyan) is actually the surname of a noble clan of the Northern Xiongnu, a nomadic people who used to occupy what is modern day Siberia, Mongolia, and several provinces of China.

[5] 玉辔红缨 is literally fine(ly made) reins, red tassels. Each is extended to refer to the thing that it's attached to, so reins = horse, tassels = spear.

[6] 万顷 is literally ten thousand qin, where one qin is the equivalent of a hundred mu. If you do the math, it comes out to be ~667 hectares or ~1648 acres. It is metaphorical for a vast area.

[7] Red is often associated with weddings and the spirit of celebration so çº¢å¸ refers to the red canopy used for the newlyweds' bed.

[8] 剑影刀光 is an inversion of the idiom 刀光剑影, which is literally the glint of a blade, the flash of a sword.

[9] 血衣 means bloodstained clothes; 霞帔, literally a cape of rosy (morning or evening) clouds, is a part of the traditional wedding clothes of a woman and extends to mean the entire wedding outfit. What connects these two, of course, is the color: red.

[10] 爵 is an ancient wine vessel that has a loop handle and stands on three legs.

[11] åˆåºé…’ is a nuptial wine consumed by the bride and groom as a part of the traditional wedding ceremony.

[12] Rather than "much", 烈 actually means "strong" and is a descriptor for alcohol.

[13] 冥冥 is actually just used as an adverb here, but it comes out strangely in English to so I took a bit of liberty. 冥冥 refers to death and to the nether world.

[14] 庚帖 is in essence a card on which is written one's year, month, day, and hour of birth. The man's and woman's families exchange these cards as one of the steps in setting up an engagement.

[tipsy baby]

That's a lot of notes 

It must've taken you a long time to put them together!!! 

I didn't realize that this was such a difficult song to translate. You must've gotten so annoyed doing so. LOL. 

But thanks again so much for the incredible effort you put into translating this!! 

[JadeCloud]

The song - 于归 by å°æ›²å„¿ - is so beautiful - well-sung, well-written and well-composed! In particular, the lyrics by Xiao Yu is so skillfully, classically written. Love the song!

 

Thanks @tipsy_baby for requesting, and thanks @renn for your translation of all the lyrical, classical nuances  

[renn]

That's a lot of notes 

It must've taken you a long time to put them together!!! 

I didn't realize that this was such a difficult song to translate. You must've gotten so annoyed doing so. LOL. 

But thanks again so much for the incredible effort you put into translating this!! 

 

LOL back when the team was smaller and I was still prolific as a translator, I used to pick out the song requests that involved more classical styles of lyric writing. It's fun for me too, because sometimes I come upon something I didn't know before and get to learn something new. I'm very fond of old idioms, poetry, and also historical fiction, so ultimately it's fun for me.

 

So you're very welcome, and don't ever hesitate to request a song just because it might be difficult! :P

 

 

The song - 于归 by å°æ›²å„¿ - is so beautiful - well-sung, well-written and well-composed! In particular, the lyrics by Xiao Yu is so skillfully, classically written. Love the song!

 

Thanks @tipsy_baby for requesting, and thanks @renn for your translation of all the lyrical, classical nuances

 

 

Yes, it's a pretty song~ ^^