Today I will be sharing a set of lyrics that has an archaic Chinese theme for no other reason besides that I personally like it. Others might or might not be able to use it as an inspiration prompt. Also, my translation might be somewhat off given the archaic theme but I did my best. To give it a little context, the song is actually written for a TV drama starring a famous beauty in the era known as the Period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China. For those with some knowledge on this period, this beauty was the daughter-in-law of Cao Cao (a feudal lord having the strongest kingdom in that period and considered a villain but his kingdom was the one that eventually triumphed over the other two). Specifically, she was married to the eldest surviving son of Cao Cao but reputedly she came to a bad end and the younger brother of her husband wrote a poem dedicated to her. In this poem, she was likened to a Goddess of a particular river.
The title of this song translates to Fairy within Water. Its lyrics is follows:
Long river, sunset, sparse flowers
The sad bird within its shell left its land of birth
How could the *streams and mountains be more lovely than you
Your beauty and virtue shower the land
A fairy within water who has her eyebrows lightly done
Wandering in a solitary boat for the sole purpose of having a look
The mortals are just waiting for one smile of yours
A hundred species of flowers are flowering for a thousand miles
Amidst a time of discord Broken hearted dream
Yet floating shadows like pain but hasn’t started to hurt yet
Flower amidst a time of discord
Used up half of a life but love not yet thick
Love hard to promise Broken hearted tears
Begrudge autumn sights for being about to recede but not yet receded
Flower amidst a time of discord
Chasing the flowing waters back and forth alone
Bright eyes like snow that reflecting a true heart
Temporarily ask new rain on empty mountain
Saying farewell to a smile of yours today
Makes life and death leave its own regrets
The wind asks
Does *fragrant grass evoke hatred or not
*1. Streams and mountains also mean the Crown, referring to the land under one’s dominion
2. fragrant grass can refer to women, or rather, women who touch one’s heart, snippet from the Chinese phrase “where in the world are there not fragrant grasses?” that basically means you can always find another love.
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