Songs in an Empty Inn at Night, A Young Woman of Yiling

In the middle of civilization, Liu Feng of Jingling sought refuge in an empty inn in Yiling. That night he saw a young woman, who sent over a servant in purple to placate Liu with an invitation to the house of her and her six maternal aunts and forty maternal uncle’s wives—she lived nearby to the south, this quite outstanding young lady. An abundance of maids then sang songs together (with her). [TN: read the songs now] When the songs were finished, a certain person in a yellow jacket presented an old woman, who explained that at the ruler’s command (the young woman) had been banished (from Handan) for not meeting him.

1.
A cooling breeze in bright moonlight,
We meet together late at night.
The Starry River turns upside-down
As our amusements never end.
A green wine-jar, a jade-green ladle—
For you, m’lord, fill cup to the brim,
For if you will not drink tonight,
Then when will you have gaiety?

2.
        Willows and poplars, willows and poplars,
    Graceful, so graceful in the urgent wind.
The beauty of West Tower constantly dreams of spring—
The colored banner rolls up, its many strips bend in.

3.
With jade-trimmed door and golden lamps,
We wish for the presence of you, our ruler,
Within the palace of Handan.
With gold and gemstones, strings and reeds,
The woman Wei’s a beauty from Qin—
From everywhere they journey here
Where dancers’ white silks fly about,
Indigo eyebrows, red adornments.
When Ruler is happy, he cares for us
Who serve our ruler as singers and dancers.
We hope our lord is ever happy,
Without disasters or suffering.

空馆夜歌
作者：夷陵女郎
〈文明中，竟陵刘讽投夷陵空馆，夜见一女郎，命青衣紫绥邀刘家六姨姨、十四舅母、南邻翘翘小娘子、溢奴同歌咏。歌竟，有黄衫人奉婆提王命召去，因不见。〉

[其一 ]
明月清风，
良宵会同。
星河易翻，
欢娱不终。
绿樽翠杓，
为君斟酌。
今夕不饮，
何时欢乐。

[其二]
杨柳杨柳，
袅袅随风急。
西楼美人春梦长，
绣帘斜卷千条入。

[其三]
玉户金缸，
愿陪君王。
邯郸宫中，
金石丝簧。
卫女秦娥，
左右成行。
纨缟缤纷，
翠眉红妆。
王欢顾盼，
为王歌舞。
愿得君欢，
常无灾苦。


This starts a run of interesting poems by (at last!) female ghosts. Though this one isn’t typical: specifically, she’s an elite courtesan (with 46 “aunts”) staying in Yiling in Hubei after being exiled from Handan in Hebei by the local PTB (not necessarily an actual king or lord, given how flattering honorifics work) in some sort of a snit. The songs are, in part, advertisements for their brothel—though, yeah no, not the sort of brothel the living should visit. (Ever get the feeling it’s just a Bad Idea to sleep in an abandoned inn?)

The Starry River aka Milky Way turns over as the night passes. A “spring dream” is an erotic one. The strips of a banner/curtain over a door bend in when someone passes through. A “beauty of Qin” has the strong connotation of being a singer, even if she’s not actually from Shaanxi.

The 4-character lines are very old-fashioned—as in Classic of Songs old. (Not that this uses the Old Chinese of those poems, but rather the literary Middle Chinese I’ve gotten used to.) The standard form for this sort of poetry started to shift to 5-character lines (and then also 7-character) late in the Han Dynasty—which form is called the “old style” poems in 3TP.

---L.