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Zhōu Guò Ān RénBoating Past Anren 舟过安仁
Yang Wanli on two boys who open an umbrella with no rain, to catch the wind.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
一叶渔船两小童
yī yè yú chuán liǎng xiǎo tóng
收篙停棹坐船中
shōu gāo tíng zhào zuò chuán zhōng
怪生无雨都张伞
guài shēng wú yǔ dōu zhāng sǎn
不是遮头是使风
bú shì zhē tóu shì shǐ fēng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 舟過安仁.
English translation
A little fishing boat with two small boys;
they've put away the pole and oars and sit in the boat.
No wonder they've opened an umbrella with no rain —
it's not to cover their heads, but to catch the wind.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Yang Wanli on two boys who open an umbrella with no rain, to catch the wind. The scene stays with you.
Background
Yang Wanli on two boys who open an umbrella with no rain, to catch the wind.
Key words
- 一叶 yī yè
- a single leaf (or a small boat)
- 渔船 yú chuán
- fishing boat
- 两小 liǎng xiǎo
- two children; childhood pair
About the poet: Yang Wanli
Yang Wanli developed a fresh, witty style that captured small moments of nature as if seen for the first time. He wrote over four thousand surviving poems.
Lifetime: 1127–1206. Other famous works: The Little Pond (小池); A Child Playing with Ice (稚子弄氷); Leaving Jingci Temple at Dawn (晓出净慈寺送林子方); Waking from an Early-Summer Nap (闲居初夏午睡起); Seeking Cool on a Summer Night (夏夜追凉); Boating Past Anren (舟过安仁); At Xu's Inn in Xinshi (宿新市徐公店).
More by Yang Wanli
- The Little Pond小池
- A Child Playing with Ice稚子弄氷
- Leaving Jingci Temple at Dawn晓出净慈寺送林子方
- Waking from an Early-Summer Nap闲居初夏午睡起
- Seeking Cool on a Summer Night夏夜追凉
- At Xu's Inn in Xinshi宿新市徐公店