Opening the “Anthology of Arabian Poems” is like walking into a garden full of exotic flowers, which makes people linger.
The outstanding contribution of the Arab nation to the world culture, apart from the Arabian Nights (“One Thousand and One Nights”), which is known as the “world’s strange book”, I am afraid that the vast sea of poetry that is regarded as the historical book of the Arab nation should be counted. .
Since ancient times, the Arab nation has lived and multiplied in the vast area that straddles the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa. It has inherited the ancient Egyptian civilization in the Nile River Basin, the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations in the Mediterranean Sea, and the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations in the Mesopotamia. Civilization, up to the period of the Islamic Empire of the Abbasid Dynasty, through the “Silk Road” by land and sea, and the Persian, Indian and Yellow River civilizations blended with each other, learned from each other, and flourished. I used to go hunting in the desert with my friends at night. By the bonfire, I heard them talk about the nomadic life of their ancestors: when the sun fell and the stars shrouded the earth, the Bedouins gathered their camels and sheep and sat around the ruins that had turned into ruins. Facing a bonfire and a sky full of stars, while tearing and eating freshly baked flatbread and drinking camel milk, listening to the legends of ancient sages from ancestors, interspersed with many verses and verses, which are taught by word of mouth from generation to generation , endlessly… I can’t help but recall that when I was studying at Peking University, I heard Mr. Ma Jinpeng’s introduction that as early as the Jahiliye (ignorant) period before the establishment of the Islamic Empire, the traditional Okaz collections of the nomads living on the Arabian Peninsula In the market, poetry competitions are held as usual, and the grand scene is far better than horse racing and camel racing. Famous poets of various tribes, surrounded by tribesmen, took the stage to recite one by one, and finally selected the recognized masterpieces, copied them on linen with golden water, and hung them in front of the Kaaba Temple for people to recite and watch, called “hanging poems”. , known as the “Pearl in the Crown”… Perhaps it is the unique geographical conditions and natural environment: the sunset over the long river, the solitary smoke in the desert, the nomadic life of living by water and grass, and jumping with the sages who make people excited The legendary story of Ma Zhengzhan not only cultivated their advocating independence, freedom, justice, tenacity, boldness and unrestrained character; it also cultivated and trained their imaginative imagination, witty, sensitive thinking and witty words, as well as the ability to use language. …
How we want to see the “Pearl of the Crown”! But Mr. Ma said with regret: “Translating ‘hanging poems’ requires a lot of knowledge, and no one has tried it yet.” He recited an Awen poem and explained: “This means: if you want to pick stars , you have to put your wings in the sky, and you can’t just rely on empty words.” He encouraged everyone to study hard: “I hope that some of you will translate ‘Hangshi’ into Chinese in the future.” At that time, political movements one after another, engaged in translation, often It is regarded as “becoming famous and starting a family” and taking the “white professional road”. Therefore, everyone did not take it to heart. After graduation, most of the alumni’s work has nothing to do with literature, and even more and more away from literature as time goes by.
At that time, and even in the following years, except for The Thousand and One Nights translated by Mr. Naxun and several translations published in support of the independence and liberation struggle of the Arab regions such as Palestine, there was almost no Arabic in the true sense. Literary works are translated into Chinese, not to mention the classical poetry. I remember our enlightenment teacher Wu Yuchi talked about it privately once, and he couldn’t help but feel emotional. It is a pity that he died young and did not have time to catch up with the reform and opening up to display his talents… The reform and opening up has brought about gratifying changes. With the establishment of the “Arabic Literature Research Association”, the works and collections of famous Arab writers such as Gibran, Mahafouz, Taha, and Hussein have been continuously translated into Chinese. prosperity.
However, there is still little interest in Arabic classical poetry. The reason is probably: “Translating things is difficult, and translating poems is especially difficult, like dancing with shackles.” The good news is that there is an alumnus who is obliged and brave to take the lead. He is Professor Zhong Jikun, who later took over as the president of the Arabic Literature Research Association. He said: “As a teacher, translator, and researcher of Arabic language and literature, I always feel uneasy because of my inability to perform my duties.” And “it is better to start with oneself than to appeal to others”, he made up his mind: “I will go. !” Like a heavy-loaded camel, “putting on the shackles” to pick up the stars reflected in the “heavenly” night sky…
This “Anthology of Arabic Ancient Poems” is a valuable achievement he has made in the research, translation and introduction of ancient Arabic poetry in addition to teaching, scientific research, and busy social activities since the reform and opening up. It contains more than 400 poems by more than 130 poets from the period of Jahiliyah (A.D. 475-622) to the declining period of recent ancient times (A.D. 1258-1798). Among them are Umrul, known as the “Pearl in the Crown”, “Suspended Poems” by Ghaith, Zuhair, Antara and others. No wonder opening it is like stepping into a garden full of exotic flowers. We have not only stepped into this garden once, but this time we are only looking for one of the poets – Abu, Nuwas…
Since 758 AD, the second caliph of the Abbas Dynasty, Mansur, made his capital Baghdad. , the Arab military expansion basically ended, with the development of politics and economy, science, culture and people’s life also showed a prosperous scene. To Harun, Rashid (786-809 AD) and later Mamun (813-833 AD) served as caliphs, and it was even more so. Just as our country is considered to be the “peak period” of the rapid political and economic development since the Qin and Han dynasties during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Xi’an and Baghdad at that time were like two bright lights on the “Silk Road”. When it comes to the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it is impossible not to mention Li Bai; when it comes to the Aba Dynasty, it is natural to mention Abu, Nuwas, who have mixed reputations but lead the coquettish generation…
We know Abu and Nuwas from the stories of Caliph Harun and Rashid’s private visits in the Arabian Nights. In the 1980s and 1990s, when we were working in Baghdad, we saw lifelike statues of Shahruyyar and Scheherazade based on the story of Arabian Nights on Abu Nuwas Street. Abu, Nuwas accompanied Harun, and the romantic affairs that Rashid performed in the boats, wine shops, and the wind and moon field on the Tigris River came to mind again. Later, I heard many legends about Abu and Nuwas, and under the guidance of friends, I found his statue in a small square in a high-end residential area. It was created by the sculptor Ismail, Turke in 1963: Abu, Nuwas in a robe, with a cloth around his head, sitting on a pedestal, his right hand resting on his knee, his left hand holding a wine glass, that look, let us It is reminiscent of the portrait of Li Bai created by the Chinese painter Jiang Zhaohe around the same period based on Du Fu’s poetic “a thousand poems with agility and a glass of wine”. But at that time, we only knew that Abu, Nuwas and Li Bai were poets standing at the peak of the times, but they had never read his poems. So opening this “Selected Poems” is like searching for his statue back then, eager to read his poems…
Also similar to Li Bai, who was born in Suye in Central Asia (in today’s Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) and called himself a “commoner”. His father, from a poor family, went to Baghdad when he became an adult. Because of his outstanding talent, he was appreciated by the court, especially Harun and Rashid, and became his “new favorite” for a time. However, he is like a tiger with a king. He was born in a commoner. He is not used to the red tape of the court. He is arrogant and proud of his talents. and the dignitaries to ingratiate themselves. Even if he was asked to compose poems, he was not willing to make plays at the scene. He followed the rigid pattern of reviving the old homes of sages or lovers who had been in ruins in the desert since “Hanging Poems”. Chen: “I still have to write those ruins in my poems/Although those things are not worth mentioning compared to chant wine/It was the dignitaries who asked me to describe the ruins/I couldn’t resist his orders/Lord of the believers, even if you It’s hard for me to force me / I can only do as I’m ordered…” Upright and unassuming, the poem is like a person. It is also because of Abu, Nuwas who came from the folk, and his poems are mostly influenced by folk customs and folk songs. This has brought a breath of fresh air to the Arab poetic world, which is used to writing long-winded, gorgeous but dull, stereotyped odes: “I do what I want, I’m not fettered, and I don’t care about people gossip and gossip. / I think the most fun is the night, Nude dancers accompany the orchestra. / Once in Yuji Tuluh, the singers will play their throats, and I will order the songs. / Enjoy! Youth will not last forever, toast and drink, from night to day!” (“Do whatever you want…” ): and “she has no sins, but / love is like the tip of a gun, / always stabs in this heart, / so – the heart is broken all over.” (“She has no sins”) and so on, all are simple, plain, Straightforward and deeply loved by people. However, he was also hated and criticized by some court poets who were accustomed to the old fashioned way…
Nowadays, whenever I see the plaque of “Taibai Legacy” hanging high in the tavern, I always think of Du Fu’s poem: “Li Bai’s Hundred Poems of Fighting Wine, / Shangjia Mian in Chang’an City. / The Son of Heaven will not board the boat when he calls, / Claiming to be a minister. It is the fairy of wine.” Abu, Nowas’s poem, also has the aroma of wine in almost the capital: “Do not cry for Laila, do not mourn for Xingde, / The wine in your hand is as red as a rose, and toast to the rose! / A glass The wine is poured into the throat, and the eyes and cheeks are red. / The wine is like a ruby, the glass is like a pearl, / in front of a slender lady, I hold the palm of my hand, / I pour my hand into the wine and my eyes pour the wine, can it not make people drunk and intoxicated . / I’m drunk and I’m drunk in the same seat, who can understand the taste?” (“I’m Two Drunk”) “Laila” and “Xingde” are both Arab women’s names, and here they refer to beautiful women. The poet’s self-deprecating and self-deprecating demeanor is vivid, reminiscent of Li Bai’s “Drinking Alone Under the Moon”: “A pot of wine among the flowers, / Drink alone without a blind date; / Raise a glass to invite the bright moon, / The shadows form three people… / Accompany the moon for a while. The shadow, / The joy must be in the spring.” And Abu, Nuwas’s “The wine seems to be able to do what one wishes, / May it be what it is; / The years seem to wash the body, / Only the essence of the world remains; / Looking at Just like a ray of light, / can only be seen but not grasped” (“Wine”); “The sound of the orchestra is accompanied by the fragrance of the wine, / The dance is maddened. / The voice is like the sea, let me swim, / The Taoist coat is thrown aside. To be ashamed, drink revelry and dare to go wild.” (“Orchestra Sounds Accompanied by Fine Wine Fragrance”); “It’s just wine, let me drink and have fun! / Don’t let me drink it secretly, if it can be made public. / Life is a drunkenness. Another scene, only when you are drunk can you be at ease. / When I am sober, I am always down and down, and I am lucky and rich when I am drunk. / Boldly name what I love, how can happiness and happiness be covered up! / Xun Rejoicing is bound to be uninhibited, how can you be happy if you follow the rules? / Which alcoholic is not like a crescent moon in the sky, and the beauties around him shine like stars.” (“Life is drunk again and again”) It also reminds us of Li Bai’s poems: “You must be happy when you are proud, / Don’t let the golden bottle face the moon”; “…Three cups lead to the road, / One bucket is natural. / But if you have fun in the wine, / Don’t pass it on for the awake”; “All the saints and sages in ancient times Lonely, / Only the drinker keeps his name”…
As early as before Islam came into being, the nomads in West Asia had mastered the technique of making wine. Although Islam prohibits alcohol, it does not prevent poets from using wine to support their prosperity, such as the poetess, Harun, and Rashid’s sister L’Oreal. , Bint, Mehdi once wrote “The confidant is only the wine”: “I am alone, the confidant is only the wine, / We talk about me, I can’t talk enough; / I became a close friend with it because / No one wants to Accompany me for a drunken break!” This shows that the social life, national culture and religious beliefs of the Abbas Dynasty were relatively loose. But after all, it is a state-religious country with Islam as the state religion. Many Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and other pagans have converted to Islam. And Abu, Nuwas not only violated the canon repeatedly, but also openly ridiculed Arabs and religious people with high social status: “…In those days, the flood drowned the earth, / This wine is exactly what Noah’s ark carried. / A few. Through the vicissitudes of life, many times of joys and sorrows, / Until a Persian king kept it, he was reluctant to drink it. / He buried it deep in the ground, / After that, how many spring and autumn have passed! / There, the Kaleb people never came Yes, / There are no Abs, no Zubyan tribes…/ There is no desert bitter fruit for the Arabs to satisfy their hunger. / There are only pomegranate flowers, / And myrtle, roses and lilies…”; “Research Religious people! / What this opinion, that opinion, / It seems to me that everything you say, / Only death and the grave are true”; You can forget about the wine! / The preacher! Let me drink it, leave me alone! I will be the best friend of wine until I die. / – When I die, bury me under the vine, and let the juice of the grapes kill my bones Soak!”; he opposed prohibition: “I will cry aloud over wine, / Because the scriptures make it taboo. / Even if it is forbidden, I will drink it with joy, / Because I have never followed the rules”; even blatantly calling Islam The chanting of the scriptures, which believers regard as sacred homework, and the drinking that are classified as “prohibited” are brought up to ridicule and ridicule: “Put the wine bag aside, / The scriptures are together; / Drink three cups of fine wine, / Read a few sentences from the scriptures. / Reading the scriptures. It is a good deed, / Drinking is a bad deed. / If Allah forgives, / The good and the bad are equal: to the censure, he retorted loudly: “Ah, there is no end to those who scold me, / It is my business to have fun, don’t you nagging! “; “What am I getting in the way of people?” Why do you want to slander me! / People have their religion, I have mine”; “If there is a place where I can have a good drink, I won’t wait until I break the fast during Ramadan. / Wine is really strange to drink, even if you are guilty, please drink and have fun! /Ah, those who make irresponsible remarks about wine and wine, you go to heaven, go to hell, and let me come ! “…Obviously, this has gone far beyond the bottom line of Islamic rules. Even if he is talented, the caliph’s tolerance is limited. Coupled with the slanderous rumors and slander around the caliph, Abu, It is not surprising that Nuwas fell out of favor and was imprisoned. It is said that after his release, he went to Egypt and was still poor, and then returned to Baghdad to join the new caliph Amin, but after Amin was assassinated, he lost his support and could not do anything. Convergence. Most of his poems are about exhorting the world, doing asceticism, begging for forgiveness from God, etc. In his early years, he was wild but dared to be angry and dare to scold. Depressed and resentful: “Those who abandon me, don’t stay on the day of yesterday! / Those who disturb my heart, how troublesome today is! “; “Life is unsatisfactory in this world, / The Ming Dynasty spreads out a flat boat”… But his poems: “Fujian screaming at night, / Ambition is a thousand miles away”; “. It is still the strong tone of the era when “the instrument is great and the voice is heard in the sky”. Its drinking is also “not addicted to its intoxicating music”, but “takes its faint to enrich itself”: “Sorrow comes to drink two thousand stones , / Cold ash and warm spring are born”. Although there are many misfortunes, he has always been closely connected with “Tian Sheweng” as a “commoner”: “Carrying with Tian’s family”, “talking and drinking wine together”, never abrupt and decadent Compared with Li Bai, Abu, and Nuwas, it is difficult to reach this point.
But for Abu, Nuwas, and the people, there is another steel scale in their hearts. In addition to his straightforward, bold and catchy poems, they also loved his personality that dared to defy patriarchal law and power, and pursued freedom and justice. In the past hundred years, people not only cherished and admired him as a great poet of the Arab nation, but also, like the legend of Li Bai’s high-ranking and powerful traitor Gao Lishi, who took off his boots, the anecdote of Abu and Nuwas. The anecdotes are deduced into stories of wise men who dared to defy patriarchal law, power, and ridicule the treacherous, and passed on from generation to generation.
Abu , Nuwas’s poems are nothing but one of the stars that once shone in the “heavenly” night sky and the strange flowers in the garden. One of the different flowers has already made us feel like drinking a glass of mellow and strong wine, full of interest and excitement. It is precisely because of Mr. Jikun’s courage to take the lead, his professionalism that is not afraid of danger, and his consistent responsible attitude of “being worthy of both the author and the reader”; He has a profound foundation in literary form. Like the ancient poets of bitterness, when translating, he does not miss every difficulty and doubt, repeatedly considers and scrutinizes, not only considers the content, form, rhythm, and language skills of the original poem, but also takes into account the requirements of Chinese readers, Habits, and strive to achieve “beautiful meaning, beautiful sound, and beautiful shape”. That is to say, the “faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance” proposed by Mr. Yan Fu can only achieve this valuable result. Of course, not every poem in this anthology has been translated perfectly, and some sentences are also affected by rhyme, such as “the wine passes through their joints/walks as if healed”, it seems that it needs to be reconsidered. However, the flaws do not hide the beauty. After all, he was the first person who dared to pick stars from the “Tianfang” Xinghai.