This is a love poem purportedly written by a lady painter named 管道昇 Guan Daosheng (Kuan Tao-Sheng) wife of the famed calligraphist 趙孟頫 Zhao Menghu in the early years of the 元 Yuan (Mongols) dynasty (1271-1368).
Legend has it that Zhao was considering marrying a second wife (a concubine) which was a commonplace practice in China in those days particularly among the rich and powerful and Zhao was a very high-ranking government official. Though Guan was unhappy, she did not create a row but simply wrote this little love poem. Zhao found the poem and was so moved that he at once dropped all such thoughts. After Guan passed away, Zhao never re-married and chose to be buried with Guan.
The famed American poet and translator of Chinese poetry Kenneth Rexroth did a superb translation of this poem which he has entitled "Married Love" from which I have borrowed, specifically the idea of "figure". I will reproduce here his rendition at the end of my notes below. www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/translations/chinese.htm
Here is my rendition:-
Here is my rendition:-
Guan Daosheng (1262-1319): Song of Me and You/ Clay Figures)
You and me, and me and you, so much in love are we;
(revised 27.8.13)
2 So much in love, like bathing in fire are we.
3 We knead and shape a clod of clay into figures of you and me:
4 We smash, trash our two figures, add water to admix the debris
5 To again knead and shape fresh figures of you and me;
6 In my clay then, you'll abide, and in yours, there I'll be.
7 (O you and I, in life, one single quilt we share,)
O me and you, in life, one single quilt we share,
(revised 27.8.13)
8 In death, in the same coffin, please bury me.
(revised 27.8.13)
2 So much in love, like bathing in fire are we.
3 We knead and shape a clod of clay into figures of you and me:
4 We smash, trash our two figures, add water to admix the debris
5 To again knead and shape fresh figures of you and me;
6 In my clay then, you'll abide, and in yours, there I'll be.
7 (O you and I, in life, one single quilt we share,)
O me and you, in life, one single quilt we share,
(revised 27.8.13)
8 In death, in the same coffin, please bury me.
Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa) 譯者: 黃宏發
Translated from the original - 管道昇: 我儂詞
1 你儂我儂 忒煞情多
2 情多處 熱似火
3 把一塊泥 捻一個你 塑一個我
4 將咱兩個 一齊打破 用水調和
5 再捻一個你 再塑一個我
6 我泥中有你 你泥中有我
7 我與你 生同一個衾
8 死同一個槨
Notes:
* I have arranged the original 17 lines (of
varying lengths) into 8 lines (also of varying lengths) grouped in 3 stanzas to
make easier reading. The English
rendition follows this arrangement. The
rhyme scheme is AA-AAAA-BA which follows the original under this arrangement.
* Title and line 1: The word 儂 usually means “you你/妳” but can
also mean “I/me我” or even “he/she 他/她” depending on the context. I have taken the first 儂 in line 1 to mean “I/me”
hence你儂 means “You and I”. As for the 儂
in the title and the second 儂 in line 1, the usual “you” meaning should be
followed since the order of words is 我儂 which must mean “me and you”.
* Line 2:
For 熱似火 I had considered the literal “as hot as fire are we” but have
decided for the more poetic (I hope) “like bathing in fire are we”.
* Line 3:
For 一塊泥 I had considered “a piece of clay” but have decided for “a clod
of clay” for the alliteration.
* Lines 3 and 5: Instead of putting 捻 ”knead” and 塑 “shape”(
and 你 “you” and 我 “me”) in two segments of the line as separate segments, I
have collapsed the two and have rendered them conjointly as “knead and shape… figures
of you and me”. In the context of “knead
and shape”, “you and me” must mean “figures of you and me”.
* Line 4:
Similar to “you and me” above, I have rendered 咱兩個 as “our two figures”
and not literally as “the two of us”. In
the context of 打破 “smash, trash”, the expression must mean the two figures. I have added the word “debris” (which is not
in the original) for the rhyme.
* Line 5:
To translate 再 I have used “again” and “fresh”. I had considered “new” but have decided for “fresh”
for the alliteration in “fresh figures”.
Kenneth Rexroth's translation of the poem:=
-
-
Kuan Tao-Sheng: Married Love
You and I
Have so much love,
That it
Burns like a fire,
In which we bake a lump of clay
Molded into a figure of you
And a figure of me.
Then we take both of them,
And break them into pieces,
And mix the pieces with water,
And mold again a figure of you,
And a figure of me.
I am in your clay.
Your are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt.
In death we will share one coffin.
I have learned from the web that 李抱忱 entitled this song 請相信我 subtitled 你儂我儂 which was first sung by 陳明律 and here is the link: http://mojim.com/tw_search_u2_Z0wLiMQuEds.html?h=%E5%8C%85%E5%A8%9C%E5%A8%9C%2B%E4%BD%A0%E5%84%82%E6%88%91%E5%84%82.
I have further learned from the web that 李抱忱 also wrote the English lyrics of this song under the title of "Believe Me Dear", but have been unable to find the words. Will anyone help, please? .
Postscript 2 (dated 27.8.2013): Following my revision of the title in the last postscript, I have now also revised (a) line 1 to read "You and me, O me and you, so much in love are we" and (b) line 7 to read "O me and you, in life". These revisions are effected in the post.
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