宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
浣溪沙·簌簌衣巾
Silk-Washing Stream: Rustling on Robe and Scarf
簌簌衣巾落枣花。
村南村北响缲车。
牛衣古柳卖黄瓜。
酒困路长惟欲睡，日高人渴漫思茶。
敲门试问野人家。
South and north of the village, the silk-reeling carts clatter.
In a straw cloak by the old willow, a man sells cucumbers.
Wine makes me drowsy, the road is long, I only long to sleep; the sun rides high, I thirst and idly think of tea.
I knock at the door and venture to ask the country household.
Meaning
Date blossoms sift down on the poet's robe; reeling-carts sound through the village; by an old willow a man in coarse cloth sells cucumbers. Wine-drowsy and thirsty on the long road, he knocks and asks a rustic house for tea. The lyric paints a bright early-summer village and the easy warmth between an official and the people.
枣花纷纷落下，簌簌地落在我的衣巾上。村南村北都响起缫车纺线的声音。老柳树下，穿着粗麻衣的农人正在叫卖黄瓜。酒意困人，路途漫长，只想昏昏睡去；日头正高，人已口渴，不由得随意想起茶来。走上前去敲门，试着向这乡野人家讨杯茶喝。
Appreciation
The lyric excels in plain description and montage. The upper stanza gives three scenes in three lines—date blossoms on the robe (near, sound), reeling-carts (village-wide sound), willow and cucumber-seller (close-up)—weaving a three-dimensional village with no word for 'joy' yet joy in the scene. The lower stanza turns to the self: drowsy, thirsty, thinking of tea, knocking—writing the tiredness and candour of the homeward road without official airs. No line states feeling, yet feeling comes from scene and deed; the closing 'country household' answers the 'straw cloak' and 'reeling-cart' before, the official-people warmth flowing naturally in plain narrative.
【白话串讲】 苏轼在徐州写浣溪沙：“簌簌衣巾落枣花。村南村北响缲车”。“牛衣古柳卖黄瓜”——“酒困路长惟欲睡，日高人渴漫思茶。敲门试问野人家”——他口渴，敲门向农户讨茶。一幅乡村风情画。 【意象与手法】 全词以白描与组镜见长。上片三句三景，全用白描：枣花落衣是近景听觉，缲车声响是全村远景，牛衣古柳卖黄瓜是市井特写，三句如三幅连环画织出乡村立体图景，无一字写「乐」而乐在景中。下片转入自我：酒困、日高、思茶、敲门，写尽归途的困倦与率真，不摆官架子。全词无一句抒情议论，而情自景出、意自事见，结句「野人家」与前文「牛衣」「缲车」呼应，官民相得的温情在平淡叙事中自然流露。 【情感与主旨】 此词作于元丰元年（1078）初夏苏轼知徐州时，是年春徐州大旱，苏轼率百姓祈雨于石潭，得雨后赴石潭谢雨，途中写下《浣溪沙》五首，此为其四。词写谢雨归途的乡村光景，在平淡中见出诗人对田园生活的热爱与对百姓的亲近——日高人渴即叩野人之门，正见其「一蓑烟雨任平生」之外平凡温暖的一面。 【名句点睛】 常考「簌簌衣巾落枣花」的倒装句法与以声写静，「酒困路长惟欲睡，日高人渴漫思茶」的旅途名句，以及「敲门试问野人家」所见的官民关系；「以俗为雅」（牛衣、黄瓜入词）亦为常考点。
Background
'Silk-Washing Stream: Rustling on Robe and Scarf' was written in early summer of 1078, when Su Shi was prefect of Xuzhou. That spring Xuzhou suffered drought; Su led the people to pray for rain at the Stone Pond, and after rain went to thank the pond, writing five Silk-Washing Stream lyrics on the way, this the fourth. It paints the thank-rain homeward scene: date blossoms, reeling-carts, a melon-seller—an early-summer harvest village; the lower stanza's knocking for tea is a vivid portrait of the poet and villagers as one family. Su had left the capital opposing Wang Anshi's New Policies, serving Hangzhou, Mizhou, Xuzhou, knowing the people's toil. The lyric writes no politics, only village sights, yet in plainness shows his love of rural life and closeness to the people—the ordinary, warm side of 'a coir cloak and misty rain, let life be.' These five lyrics opened Song pastoral lyrics; this is the first.
《浣溪沙·簌簌衣巾落枣花》作于宋神宗元丰元年（1078）初夏，苏轼时任徐州知州。是年春，徐州大旱，苏轼率百姓祈雨于城东石潭，得雨后又赴石潭谢雨，途中即景即事，写下《浣溪沙》五首，此词为其四，题序即「徐门石潭谢雨道上作五首」。词写谢雨归途所见所闻：枣花簌簌落衣、村南村北缲车声响、古柳下农人卖瓜，一派初夏乡村的丰收气象；下片写日高人困、敲门求茶，更是诗人与乡民亲如一家的生动写照。苏轼于熙宁年间因反对王安石新法而自请外任，先通判杭州，再知密州、徐州，久历州郡，深知民间疾苦与稼穑之艰。此词不写政事议论，只写乡村寻常光景，却在平淡中见出诗人对田园生活的热爱与对百姓的亲近，正是「一蓑烟雨任平生」之外，苏东坡平凡而温暖的一面。五首浣溪沙均以小令写乡村风物，开宋词田园词的先声，此其一也。值得一提的是，这组浣溪沙作于徐州任上，此前苏轼刚经历了熙宁变法期间的仕途风波——因反对王安石新法而自请外任，辗转杭州、密州，饱尝州县之劳。然而此词毫无迁谪之感，只写乡村寻常光景，正见其「此心安处是吾乡」的旷达胸襟：无论身处何地，皆能以平常心体味生活的真趣。这五首浣溪沙也因之成为宋词田园题材的开山之作。
Art
The lyric excels in 'plain description' and 'montage.' The upper stanza: date blossoms rustle on the robe (near, sound and sight), reeling-carts sound south and north (far, sound), straw cloak and cucumber by the old willow (close-up, human scene)—three lines from robe to village to willow, motion to still, sound to colour, weaving a three-dimensional early-summer village with no word for 'joy.' The lower stanza turns to the self: 'wine makes me drowsy' the body's tiredness, 'sun high, I thirst' the bodily need, 'knock and venture to ask' the deed—writing the homeward wilfulness and candour, no official airs; a 'knock and venture' erases the distance between prefect and rustic, the figure vivid. No line states feeling yet feeling comes from scene, deed; the closing 'country household' answers 'straw cloak' and 'reeling-cart,' the official-people warmth flowing in plain narrative. A short lyric on the village, plain description for true delight—Su's ideal of 'splendour returned to plainness' in lyric form.
此词艺术上以「白描」与「组镜」见长。上片三句三景，全用白描：枣花簌簌落衣，是近景、是听觉与视觉的交织；村南村北缲车声响，是远景、是听觉的延伸；牛衣古柳卖黄瓜，是特写、是市井人情的小景——三句由衣巾而村野而柳下，由动而静、由声而色，如三幅连环画般织出初夏乡村的立体图景，而无一字写「乐」，乐在景中。下片转入诗人的自我：「酒困路长惟欲睡」写身体的困倦，「日高人渴漫思茶」写生理的需求，「敲门试问野人家」写求茶的举动——三句写尽归途的狼狈与率真，不摆官架子，不装斯文，一个「敲门试问」，把知州与野人的距离消弭于无形，人物形象鲜活如在目前。全词无一句抒情议论，而情自景出、意自事见；结句「野人家」与前文「牛衣」「缲车」呼应，官民相得的温情，在平淡的叙事中自然流露。此词以小令写乡村，以白描写真趣，正是苏轼「绚烂之极归于平淡」的审美理想在词中的体现。
Allusions
The allusions are hidden yet the images alive, the wonder being 'making the common elegant.' First, 'date blossoms rustle down' is a inverted sentence—really 'date blossoms rustle down on robe and scarf'—'rustling' mimics the sound; date blossoms in lyric are common stuff, yet Su writes with 'robe and scarf' the elegant fun of fallen flowers on clothing, echoing the Shijing's 'in August beat the dates' farm custom, making the village snippet charming. Second, 'reeling-cart' for the silk-reeling cart, 'south and north the reeling-carts sound' faintly uses the Shijing's mulberry-reeling old custom, writing the flourish of farm work. Third, 'straw cloak' was the coarse hemp garment of the poor, from the Han Shu 'weeping under the straw cloak' tale—Su reverses it: then straw-cloak weeping was poor grief, now selling melons beneath it is the plain self-earned life, one common thing transformed holds the warmth of livelihood; 'old willow' too common village stuff, yet 'straw cloak, old willow, cucumber' three common words enter the lyric without vulgarity—model 'making common elegant.' Fourth, 'knock and venture to ask the country household' faintly matches Tao Yuanming's 'knock at the door, clumsy with words' (Begging Food); Su admired Tao, and this line unknowingly bears his spirit—prefect and rustic, Tao and beggar, both share a humble, true ease.
此词用典极隐而意象极活，其妙在「化俗为雅」。其一，「簌簌衣巾落枣花」一句为倒装句，实即「枣花簌簌落衣巾」，以「簌簌」拟枣花落地之声；枣花入词，本为俗物，苏轼却以「衣巾」二字写出落花沾衣的雅趣，暗合《诗经·豳风·七月》「八月剥枣」的农事传统，将乡村小景写得风致楚楚。其二，「缲车」为缫丝之车，「村南村北响缲车」，暗用《诗经》采桑缫丝之古俗，写出桑麻农事的兴旺，是「田园」题材的题中之义。其三，「牛衣古柳卖黄瓜」，「牛衣」本是贫者御寒的粗麻衣，语出《汉书·王章传》「牛衣对泣」之典——苏轼反用其意：昔日牛衣对泣是贫寒之悲，今日牛衣之下卖瓜却是自食其力的平常日子，一俗物一经点化，便含民生温厚的意味；「古柳」亦为乡村习见之物，苏轼以「牛衣」「古柳」「黄瓜」三个俗语入词而毫不俚俗，正是「以俗为雅」的典范。其四，「敲门试问野人家」暗合陶渊明「叩门拙言辞」（《乞食》）之趣，苏东坡素慕渊明，此句无意中见其神韵——知州与野老，陶令与乞者，古今同此一份谦和与真率。
Commentary
This lyric is a representative of Su Shi's pastoral lyrics; critics through ages prize its plainness and truth. The Qing Wang Shizhen said Su 'nothing unspoken, nothing unsayable,' and this proves it—date blossoms, reeling-carts, cucumbers, knocking for tea, all unheard in earlier lyrics, yet once Su wrote them they stir with life, opening Song lyrics to village trivials. Its value is threefold: in subject, Tang-Song lyrics favored boudoir, parting, city sights, Su first wrote the village in a linked set, following Tao's pastoral poetry and preceding Xin Qiji's 'moon startles the magpies,' a milestone of lyric pastoral; in realm, not one rare word, no piled allusion, scene like painting, narrative like talk, yet 'joy' within—Su's 'unmeant writing yet writing perfect' mastery; in feeling, as prefect he knocks the rustic's door for tea, his closeness to the people and ease wherever he is, one with 'a coir cloak and misty rain.' As for 'wine makes me drowsy… idly think of tea,' later men cite it for travel tiredness, its life beyond the lyric.
此词是苏轼田园词的代表作，历代评家多赏其平淡真率。清人王士禛《花草蒙拾》称东坡「无意不可入，无事不可言」，此词即其证——枣花、缲车、黄瓜、敲门讨茶，皆前人词中未有的寻常物事，一经东坡写出，便觉风神俱动，开了宋词以乡村琐事入词的先河。词的价值有三：一在题材的开拓，唐宋词向以闺情、别绪、都市风物为主，苏轼首次以组词形式大规模写乡村田园，上承陶渊明田园诗、下启辛弃疾「明月别枝惊鹊」等田园词，是词史上田园题材的里程碑；二在境界的平易，全词无一僻字、无一典故堆砌，写景如画、叙事如话，而「乐」自在其中，正见东坡「无意为文而文自工」的大家风范；三在情怀的可贵，苏轼作为一方知州，不以官自居，日高人渴即叩野人之门，其与民相亲、随遇而安的人生态度，与「一蓑烟雨任平生」的旷达一脉相承，读之令人温暖。至于「酒困路长惟欲睡，日高人渴漫思茶」之句，后人常引以写旅途困倦，可见其生命力早已超出词境，成为中国人日常经验的诗意表达。
Prosody
Line by line
簌簌衣巾落枣花。
Translation: 'Date blossoms rustle down upon my robe and scarf.' Note: The opening line writes a tiny early-summer village sight in inverted syntax: normal order 'date blossoms rustle down on robe and scarf,' the poet puts 'rustling' first and 'robe and scarf' in the middle, so the sound enters the ear before the falling flower enters the eye, the syllable light. 'Rustling' is a sound-imitating reduplicative for date blossoms sifting down—as if heard; tiny yellow blossoms on the robe is a detail only met under the date trees. Three wonders: auditory (rustling writes the light sound of falling flowers in a still village), visual (yellow on robe, bright yet pale), and interest (a prefect noting date blossoms on his robe shows his leisurely, kindly eye). The word 'fall' writes early summer's laziness and the village's quiet, setting the plain, true key.
枣花纷纷落下，簌簌地落在我的衣巾上。
Date blossoms, pattering down, fall on my robe and headcloth.
开篇一句即写乡村初夏特有的小景，以倒装句法出之：正常语序是「枣花簌簌落衣巾」，诗人将「簌簌」提前、将「衣巾」置中，使落花之声先入耳、落花之境先入目，音节也随之轻快。「簌簌」为拟声叠字，写枣花细碎飘落之声，如闻其声；枣花本细小而色黄，纷纷落于衣巾之上，是只有穿行于枣林之下才能遇到的细趣。这一句的妙处有三：一在听觉，以「簌簌」之声写落花，是静的乡村里最轻的响动；二在视觉，黄黄的枣花沾上衣巾，色彩鲜明而淡雅；三在意趣，身为知州的诗人竟注意到枣花落衣的细事，可见其心境之闲适、目光之亲切——一个「落」字，写尽初夏的慵懒与乡村的宁静，为全词定下平淡真率的基调。
The opening writes the small scene of early summer in the village, in inverted order: the normal order would be date blossoms pattering on the robe, and the poet moves the pattering forward and the robe to the middle, so the sound of falling blossoms first enters the ear, the sight of falling blossoms first the eye, the rhythm light. The pattering is the onomatopoeic doubled word, the fine sound of date blossoms falling; the blossoms by nature small and yellow, falling on the robe, the little pleasure of walking beneath the jujube grove. The line's beauty is threefold: first in hearing, the pattering sound writing the falling, the lightest noise in the still village; second in sight, the yellow blossoms on the cloth, the colors vivid and faint; third in temper, the prefect himself noticing the blossoms on the clothes, showing the leisure of his mind and the warmth of his eye, the word falling exhausting the early-summer languor and the village quiet, setting the ci's plain, candid tone.
村南村北响缲车。
Translation: 'South and north of the village, the silk-reeling carts clatter.' Note: This line pulls from the near scene to the far, from the robe's side to the whole village. 'Reeling-cart' is the silk-reeling frame; early summer is the busy reeling season; 'south and north the reeling-carts sound' writes the whole village's reeling bustle—sound fills the fields, so the reeling's flourish, the farmer's diligence, the good season all implied. Its skill is writing fact by virtual: not the cart's shape but its sound, sound full of village, so the reeling's plenty and the farm's diligence live beyond words. The symmetric 'south and north' nears the Shijing's repeated-chorus mouth, with a folk refrain beauty; among Su's set this line writes the whole village by sound alone, more ethereal. Date blossoms on the robe is the poet's near scene, reeling-carts the village's far sound—near and far, strong camera sense, the village's three-dimensional picture opens.
村南村北都响起缫车纺线的声音。
South and north of the village, the silk-reeling wheels hum.
此句由上句的近景拉开为远景，由衣巾之侧写到整个村落。「缲车」即缫丝之车，初夏正是缫丝的农忙时节，「村南村北响缲车」，一句写尽全村缫丝的繁忙——南村北村，四面皆响，以声音写农事，以「响」字点出桑蚕丰收的喜悦。此句妙在虚写实感：不写缲车之形，只写缲车之声，声满村野，则缫丝之盛、农家之勤、时令之好，皆在言外。「村南村北」的对称句式，与《诗经》「采采芣苢」的重章声口相近，有一种民歌的复沓之美；苏轼此组浣溪沙中亦以「旋抹红妆看使君，三三五五棘篱门」写村景，而此句单以声音写全村，更为空灵。枣花落衣是诗人个人的近景，缲车声响是全村的远景，一近一远，镜头感极强，乡村的立体图景由此展开。
This line pulls back from the near scene to the far, from the side of the robe to the whole village. The reeling wheel is the silk-reeling machine, early summer the busy reeling season; south and north of the village the wheels hum writes the whole village's reeling in one line — south village, north village, all sides sounding, writing the farm work through sound, the word hum naming the joy of the silkworm harvest. The line's beauty in the sound writing the substance: not the shape of the wheels, only their sound, and the sound filling the village implies the reeling's abundance, the farmers' diligence, the good season. The balanced south and north echoes the repetitive voice of the Book of Songs' gathering the plantain, the folk charm of recurrence; Su Shi in this set of huanxi sha also writes the village through the red-roughed girls at the thorn-fence gates, yet this line alone sounds the whole village through sound, the more ethereal. The blossoms on the clothes the poet's personal near scene, the humming wheels the village's far scene, one near one far, the camera vivid, the village's three-dimensional picture opening.
牛衣古柳卖黄瓜。
Translation: 'In a straw cloak by the old willow, a man sells cucumbers.' Note: This line is the most pictorial stroke: straw cloak, old willow, cucumber, three common things together make a fine genre-painting—beneath the old willow's shade, an old farmer in a straw cloak keeps new-picked cucumbers, colours (green willow, green cucumber, brown cloak) bright, composition simple, yet the village's ease, the farmer's plainness, early summer's freshness all within. 'Straw cloak' uses the Han Shu 'weeping under the straw cloak' tale, once poor grief, here Su writes the ordinary farm house, grief gone, only self-earned calm; 'old willow' sets the season and mood, willow old yet shade thick, a good summer rest; 'sells cucumbers' brings market-cry into lyric, common to the core yet once touched feels fresh and dear. With the two lines before it forms the 'blossoms—carts—melons' montage: ear to eye, far to near, sound to man, the village's plenty and ease naturally whole.
老柳树下，穿着粗麻衣的农人正在叫卖黄瓜。
Under the ancient willow, a man in straw rags sells cucumbers.
此句为全词最具画意的一笔：牛衣、古柳、黄瓜，三个寻常物事并置，便成一幅绝妙的风俗画——古柳的浓荫下，穿牛衣的老农守着新摘的黄瓜叫卖，色彩（绿柳、黄瓜、褐衣）鲜明，构图简洁，而乡村的安闲、农人的质朴、初夏的清新尽在其中。「牛衣」用《汉书·王章传》「牛衣对泣」之典，本写贫寒之悲，苏轼却以之写寻常农家，悲意全消，只见自食其力的平静；「古柳」点出时令与氛围，柳老而荫浓，正是夏日小憩的好去处；「卖黄瓜」以市声入词，俗到极处，而一经点化，便觉清新可爱。此句与前两句构成「落花—缲车—卖瓜」的蒙太奇：由耳及目、由远及近、由声及人，乡村的丰足与安恬，在三个镜头中浑然天成。
This line is the most pictorial stroke of the ci: straw coat, ancient willow, cucumbers, three common things set side by side and become a perfect genre painting — beneath the old willow's shade, the ragged old farmer keeps his newly picked cucumbers and calls them, the colors (green willow, green cucumbers, brown coat) vivid, the composition spare, and the village's ease, the farmer's simplicity, the early-summer freshness all within. The straw coat uses the Book of Han's weeping face to face in the straw coat, by nature the grief of poverty, and Su Shi applies it to the ordinary farmstead, the grief gone, only the calm of self-support; the ancient willow names the season and the mood, the willow old and the shade dense, the summer's resting place; sells cucumbers brings the market cry into the ci, vulgar to the extreme, and once touched by the brush, fresh and lovable. The line with the two above composes the montage of falling blossoms, reeling wheels, selling melons: from ear to eye, from far to near, from sound to person, the village's plenty and ease, born naturally in three frames.
酒困路长惟欲睡，日高人渴漫思茶。
Translation: 'Wine makes me drowsy, the road is long, I only long to sleep; the sun rides high, I thirst and idly think of tea.' Note: These two lines of the turn write the poet's own fatigue, the hinge from scene to man, and the most life-filled famous lines. 'Wine makes me drowsy, the road long, I only long to sleep'—having drunk on the thank-rain road, plus the long summer road, drowsiness comes; the word 'only' writes the thoughtless tiredness. 'Sun high, I thirst, idly think of tea'—the sun high, mouth dry; 'idly' means 'casually, unthinkingly'—not deliberately wanting tea but thirsty to the point of thinking of it, the bodily urge written truly. The two lines antithesis neat yet natural: wine-drowsy vs. sun-high, road-long vs. man-thirsty, want-sleep vs. think-tea, three levels, the travel tiredness as if before us. Their wonder is 'truth': a prefect, sleepy wants sleep, thirsty wants tea, no official body—Su's 'truth' creed, why these two lines became timeless travel lines all wayfarers smile at.
酒意困人，路途漫长，只想昏昏欲睡；日头正高，人已口渴，不由得随意想起茶来。
Wine weighs on me, the road is long, I want nothing but sleep; the sun stands high, I am thirsty, and I vaguely think of tea.
过片二句写诗人自身的困乏，是全词由写景转入写人的枢纽，亦是最富生活气息的名句。「酒困路长惟欲睡」，谢雨途中饮过酒，加之夏日路长，困意袭来，一个「惟」字写尽别无他想的倦态；「日高人渴漫思茶」，日头正高，口干舌燥，「漫思茶」之「漫」，是「随意、不经意」之意——不是刻意想喝茶，而是渴到不由自主地想起茶来，生理的迫切写得极为真切。两句对仗工整而自然天成：酒困对日高、路长对人渴、欲睡对思茶，六个字三个层次，把旅途困倦写得如在目前。此二句之妙在「真」：堂堂知州，困了便想睡，渴了便想茶，毫无官体，正是东坡「真」字诀的体现，也正因为这份真，这两句才成为千古传诵的旅途名句，凡行路困倦者读之皆会心一笑。
The two lines over the course break into the poet's own weariness, the hinge of the ci's turn from scene to person, and the most lifelike famous line. Wine weighs on me, the road is long, I want nothing but sleep: after the rain-prayer journey's wine, the long summer road, drowsiness coming on, the word only exhausting the weariness of no other thought; the sun stands high, I am thirsty, and I vaguely think of tea: the sun high, the mouth dry, the vaguely means casually, unthinkingly — not deliberately craving tea, but thirst thinking of tea unawares, the bodily urgency written most truly. The couplet steady and natural: wine-drowsed against sun-high, road-long against man-thirsty, want-sleep against think-of-tea, six words in three layers, the travel weariness as if before the eyes. The beauty lies in the truth: the grand prefect, sleepy and wanting sleep, thirsty and thinking of tea, no official dignity, the showing of Su Shi's truth — and because of this truth, these lines become the travel lines recited by all, every tired traveler smiling at the reading.
敲门试问野人家。
Translation: 'I knock at the door and venture to ask the country household.' Note: The closing line is the eye, writing the poet's knocking the farm for tea, deep meaning in plainness. 'Knock' is the prefect stooping to knock the gate, no official awe; 'venture to ask'—'venture' writes the polite, cautious probe: not sure the house has tea or is convenient, so 'venture' then ask; 'country household' names the object, the wild-house of the 'straw cloak, old willow' before. Three turns in three words paint a prefect who drops no airs, goes with the flow—the warm part of Su's character, and what lifts this lyric above common pastoral: the joy of village not only in scene but in human feeling. By cause from 'idly think of tea' to 'knock and venture,' clean close; by feeling, at high sun and thirst he sends no underling, knocks himself, no gap between official and people—this equality and closeness is the warmest part of Su's person.
走上前去敲门，试着向这乡野人家讨杯茶喝。
I go up, knock, and ask a country house for a cup of tea.
结句是全词的点睛之笔，写诗人向农家讨茶的举动，平淡中见深意。「敲门」二字，是知州屈尊叩扉的动作，毫无官威；「试问」之「试」，写探询的客气与谨慎——不知人家是否有茶、是否方便，故「试」而问之；「野人家」点出对象，正是前文「牛衣古柳」的乡野之家。三字三折，把一位不摆架子、随缘自适的知州形象写得栩栩如生。此句的妙处有二：一在结构，由「漫思茶」的渴望到「敲门试问」的行动，因果相接，一气而下，全词由景到人、由人及事，收得干净利落；二在情怀，日高人渴之际，不遣吏役、不扰乡民，而是亲自叩门相询，官民之间毫无隔阂，这种平等与亲切，正是苏轼人格中最温暖的部分，也是此词超越一般田园词的地方——田园之乐，不只在风景，更在人情。
The close is the ci's telling stroke, writing the poet's asking the farmhouse for tea, the deep meaning in the plainness. The word knock names the prefect's humble knocking, no official awe; the try in the try-asking writes the courteous, cautious inquiry — not knowing whether the house has tea or the convenience, hence the try; the country house names the object, precisely the rustic home of the straw coat and ancient willow above. Three characters, three turns, drawing a prefect without airs, at ease with whatever comes, to the life. The line's beauty is twofold: first in structure, from the vague longing for tea to the knocking and asking, cause and effect linked, running down in one breath, the ci from scene to person, from person to event, gathered cleanly; second in feeling — the sun high and the throat dry, and yet he dispatches no runner, disturbs no villager, but knocks himself and asks, no barrier between official and people, this equality and warmth the warmest part of Su Shi's character, and what lifts this ci beyond the ordinary pastoral: the pastoral joy lies not only in scenery, but in human warmth.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Xin Qiji's 'Moon over the West River' ('bright moon startles the magpies on the branch, midnight breeze cicadas sing; in rice-flower scent we speak of a good year, listen to the frogs' reach') and Su's 'Silk-Washing Stream' are both representative Song pastoral lyrics. The difference: Su writes day—date blossoms, reeling-carts, high sun and tea, plain description for true delight, stressing the prefect-people human feeling; Xin writes night—bright moon, startled magpies, breeze cicadas, rice-flower frogs, scene-language for a good year, stressing the night-walk's natural music and joy. Su ends on 'knock and venture to ask the country household' (human affair), Xin on 'two or three drops of rain before the hill' (sky sign); one the day's real sense, one the night's clear fun. Read together they show two faces of Song pastoral: Su亲切 plain, Xin fresh lively, yet the 'village sights into lyric' opening honour belongs to Su's set.
辛弃疾《西江月·夜行黄沙道中》「明月别枝惊鹊，清风半夜鸣蝉。稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片」与苏轼《浣溪沙·簌簌衣巾落枣花》同为宋词田园题材的代表作。差异在于：苏词写昼——枣花落衣、缲车声声、日高思茶，以白描写真趣，重在知州与乡民的人情；辛词写夜——明月惊鹊、清风鸣蝉、稻花蛙声，以景语写丰年，重在夜行途中的天籁与喜悦。苏词以「敲门试问野人家」落笔于人事，辛词以「两三点雨山前」落笔于天象；一写白日的实感，一写夜间的清趣。两词对读，可见宋词田园词的两副面孔：东坡亲切平易，稼轩清新灵动，而「以乡村风物入词」的开拓之功，则同归于东坡此组浣溪沙。
过故人庄 Visiting an Old Friend's Village 孟浩然 · 同写田园人情之乐，一诗一词、一隐一宦 Both write the joy of village human feeling: one poem, one lyric; one recluse, one officialMeng Haoran's 'Visiting an Old Friend's Village' ('my friend prepares chicken and millet, invites me to his farm… open the window to the yard, raise wine and talk of mulberry and hemp') and Su's 'Silk-Washing Stream' both write village joy, both with 'raise wine and talk of mulberry and hemp' farm delight. The difference: Meng's poem is a recluse answering a friend's call, green trees and blue hills, the calm of kindred meeting, pure pastoral poet; Su's lyric is a prefect on the thank-rain road, date blossoms and reeling-carts, knocking for tea, the closeness of official meeting people, with the literatus's temperature of observing the people. Meng lived a commoner, the village his home; Su long in office, the village his solace—same village joy, one life's norm, one career's seasoning. Read together they show the pastoral theme moving from Tang poem to Song lyric, from recluse to official.
孟浩然《过故人庄》「故人具鸡黍，邀我至田家。绿树村边合，青山郭外斜」「开轩面场圃，把酒话桑麻」与苏轼《浣溪沙·簌簌衣巾落枣花》同写田园之乐，同有「把酒话桑麻」的农事之兴。差异在于：孟诗是隐士赴友人之约，绿树青山、场圃桑麻，写的是知己相聚的恬淡，纯乎田园诗人的本色；苏词是知州谢雨之途，枣花缲车、敲门讨茶，写的是官民相遇的亲切，带着士大夫俯察民情的温度。孟浩然一生布衣，田园是其归宿；苏轼久历仕宦，田园是其慰藉——同是田园之乐，一为生活的常态，一为仕途的调剂。两作并读，可见田园母题由唐诗入宋词、由隐士而士大夫的演化轨迹。
约客 A Guest Promised 赵师秀 · 同写夏日闲居的闲适情趣 Both write summer leisure's easeZhao Shixiu's 'A Guest Promised' ('in the yellow plum season rain at every house, in the green grass pond frogs at every place; the promised one comes not past midnight, idly I knock the chess piece, the lamp's flower falls') and Su's 'Silk-Washing Stream' both write summer leisure, yet unlike states. Su writes the day's village travel, wine-drowsy and thirsty, knocking for tea, leisure with the road's liveliness, leisure in motion; Zhao writes night's lone waiting, yellow plum rain, pond frogs, the promised one not come, idly knocking chess, leisure in stillness. One 'knock' writes the boredom of waiting, one 'venture' writes the politeness of knocking—both leisure, one outward one inward. Also Su's 'rustling date blossoms' and Zhao's 'green grass pond frogs' both write stillness by sound, same craft different tune. One poem one lyric, one day one night, together show how Song men wrote summer leisure in small scenes small feelings with lasting poetic sense.
赵师秀《约客》「黄梅时节家家雨，青草池塘处处蛙。有约不来过夜半，闲敲棋子落灯花」与苏轼《浣溪沙·簌簌衣巾落枣花》同写夏日闲适之趣，而境况迥异。苏词写白日的乡村行旅，酒困人渴、敲门求茶，闲适中带着行程的生动，是动中的闲；赵诗写夜半的闲居独候，黄梅雨、池塘蛙，有约不来而闲敲棋子，是静中的闲。一以「敲」字写等人的无聊，一以「试」字写叩门的客气，同是闲情，一外向一内向。此外，苏词「簌簌衣巾落枣花」的听觉与赵诗「青草池塘处处蛙」的听觉，皆以声写静，异曲同工。两作一诗一词、一昼一夜，合观可见宋人笔下的夏日闲情，如何以小景小情写出恒久的诗意。