春夜宴桃李园序 Preface to a Spring Night Banquet in the Peach and Plum Garden
Li Bai 李白 · Tang, about 733
Li Bai explains, in a hundred and twenty characters, why his family is drinking in a garden at night.
夫天地者，万物之逆旅也；光阴者，百代之过客也。 fú tiān dì zhě, wàn wù zhī nì lǚ yě; guāng yīn zhě, bǎi dài zhī guò kè yě.
Heaven and earth are an inn for all living things; time is a traveller passing through a hundred generations.
而浮生若梦，为欢几何？ ér fú shēng ruò mèng, wéi huān jǐ hé?
And this drifting life is like a dream; how much joy can there be in it?
古人秉烛夜游，良有以也。 gǔ rén bǐng zhú yè yóu, liáng yǒu yǐ yě.
The ancients took up candles and went roaming at night, and they had good reason to.
况阳春召我以烟景，大块假我以文章。 kuàng yáng chūn zhào wǒ yǐ yān jǐng, dà kuài jiǎ wǒ yǐ wén zhāng.
All the more so when warm spring calls me with its misty scenery, and the great earth lends me its patterns.
会桃花之芳园，序天伦之乐事。 huì táo huā zhī fāng yuán, xù tiān lún zhī lè shì.
We meet in the fragrant garden of peach blossom and take up, in order, the pleasures of family.
群季俊秀，皆为惠连；吾人咏歌，独惭康乐。 qún jì jùn xiù, jiē wéi huì lián; wú rén yǒng gē, dú cán kāng lè.
My younger brothers are all talented, every one a Huilian; only my own singing falls short of Kangle.
幽赏未已，高谈转清。 yōu shǎng wèi yǐ, gāo tán zhuǎn qīng.
Our quiet enjoyment is not yet done, and the lofty talk turns purer still.
开琼筵以坐花，飞羽觞而醉月。 kāi qióng yán yǐ zuò huā, fēi yǔ shāng ér zuì yuè.
We spread a jewelled feast to sit among the flowers, and pass the winged cups to get drunk under the moon.
不有佳咏，何伸雅怀？ bù yǒu jiā yǒng, hé shēn yǎ huái?
Without fine verses, how could we give voice to such refined feeling?
如诗不成，罚依金谷酒数。 rú shī bù chéng, fá yī jīn gǔ jiǔ shù.
If anyone’s poem fails, the penalty follows the Golden Valley count of cups.