崔 护译 文

崔护
孟棨
Cui Hu
By Meng Qi
There lived in Boling County a gifted but unsociable scholar named Cui Hu, who has attended the highest imperial examination and failed. On one
Tomb-sweeping Day, he wandered the southern outskirt of the capital alone and caught sight of a courtyard of one mu. The flowers and trees there were luxuriant. It was quite quiet with no voice to be heard. He knocked at the door time and again before a girl presented herself and peeped her head through the door. “Who is it?” she asked. Hu told her his name and added, “I come here alone to enjoy spring. Too thirsty I am now, let me have a drink of water, please!”The girl went in and came back with a cup of water. Having opened the door and seated him, she leaned on a slanting peach branch bashfully. Her feature was delicate, her manner vivacious and her tender regards touching. Lost in reverie, she listened with half an ear to Cui’s reminding words and made no answers. They kept fixing their eyes on each other till Cui bidding farewell. The girl saw him out and went back forlornly. Cui felt attached when parting and resolved to visit there no more.
The approach of the following Tomb-sweeping Day stirred in him a strong and irresistible longing for the girl. So he went straight to visit her. To his disappointment, the gate was locked though the door and the yard were the same as they ever were. Hence he inscribed on the left door a poem:” Last year today at this door, the girl's delicate feature and the peach blossoms reflected each other. I know not where she is now, but the peach blossoms were still smiling in the spring breeze as before.”
A few days later, he happened to pass the southern outskirt and decided to try his fortune once again. Upon arriving at the courtyard, he heard some cries
and felt curious. And then he knocked at the door and intended to ask for the reason. An old man came out: “Aren’t you Cui Hu?” “Yeah!” “It is you who killed my daughter!” announced the old ma n in tears. Hu became astounded and tongue-tied. “My daughter read extensively when young and still hasn’t got married yet. She has been desolate and lost since last year. The other day we went out together. When we came back, the poem on the left door caught her attention. She felt ill all of a sudden as soon as she read it. After a few days of fasting, she left me forever. It won’t be long for now before I depart this life. I hesitated to marry my only daughter off for I want a man of virtue to entrust my self to his care. Unfortunately, she has passed away now. Aren’t you the killer? ” The old man held Cui in the arms and cried even louder. Cui was also overcome with grief. He asked earnestly for paying a condolence call. The girl was still in bed. Cui rested his head on her thigh and cried, “I’m here. I’m
here!”Her eyes opened instantly. No more than half a day passed, she came back to life. Immersed in exultancy, the old father married his daughter off to Cui Hu.。