poetry reading (1) IN THE QUIET NIGHT 静夜思

Crystal is 1 year 7 month 1 week today

Smarty could memorize around 4~5 poems from the Tang Dinasty. i only knew (memorize) 1 poem. so i read this poem several times to Crystal on Tuesday nite, before bed time. and explain the meaning to her in kid language. this is the only one chinese poem i could remember by heart.

静夜思 (李白)
床前明月光
疑是地上霜
举头望明月
低头思故乡


There are 7 translations for this poem. among them, below translation is what i like the most. though i still think it's a little bit awkward anyway. such kind of poem if translated, cannot represent the original version in Chinese. though i'm not very fluent in Chinese language, i still could feel the beauty in the above poem when reading in original Chinese version.

IN THE QUIET NIGHT
by Li Bai
Beside my bed a pool of light---
Is it hoarfrost on the ground?
I lift my eyes and see the moon,
I bend my head and think of home.
(Tr. Xianyi and Gladys Yang, 1984, from "Poetry and Prose of the Tang and Song")


to my surprise is .. tonite Crystal can memorize the whole poem. though i believe she doesnt really understand the meaning. but it's amazing !


hahaha... and it encourages me to learn more chinese poem and also improve my chinese learning. otherwise, how could i teach my daughter in the future if she has questions for her school homeworks? well, her dad will be in charge actually ... =)

all this time, i am too busy and have no time to learn 'kanji' (chinese characters).
actually the true reason is, i am lazy! 'coz i still have time for blogging.. ;P