All poems

现代现代 · 诗 Poem

山鬼

Mountain Ghost

废名

Fei Ming

山鬼踯躅，夜游之乐，明月为灯，溪水为裳。
披薜荔兮带女萝，既含睇兮又宜笑。
子慕予兮善窈窕，乘赤豹兮从文狸。

The mountain ghost lingers,
The joy of the night-wandering:
The bright moon for a lamp,
The stream for a robe.
She wears the vine of fig-leaves, and girds herself with creeping vine;
She both glances softly and smiles so kindly.
You love me, and you say I am slender and fair;
She rides the red leopard, followed by the striped wildcat.

Listen

Meaning

Fei Ming's short lyric re-creates the Mountain Ghost of Qu Yuan's Nine Songs. The first four lines are his own invention in plain modern Chinese: the ghost wanders at night with the moon for a lamp and the stream for a robe. The last four quote the Chu lines almost verbatim - the ghost wearing fig-leaves and creeping vine, glancing and smiling, riding a red leopard followed by a striped wildcat. The poem sets a modern plainness against the archaic lushness of the Chu psalm, and in doing so lets an ancient goddess speak in a modern voice.

山鬼在山中徘徊踯躅，享受这夜游的乐趣，以明月为灯，以溪水为裳。她身披薜荔，腰束女萝；既含情脉脉地注视，又露出宜人的微笑。你说你爱慕我窈窕的美好身姿，你乘着赤豹，后面跟随着文狸。

Appreciation

【Plain Paraphrase】The mountain ghost lingers and takes pleasure in her night-walk: the bright moon is her lamp, the stream her robe. Then the old lines arrive - she wears the vine of fig-leaves and girds herself with creeping vine, she glances softly and smiles so kindly, she loves the one who calls her slender and fair, and she rides the red leopard followed by the striped wildcat.
【Structure】A dialogue of two voices: four lines of modern speech, then four of archaic verse. The poem's whole effect rests on that seam.
【Imagery】Moon and stream make her part of the landscape; the fig-leaf, the vine, the leopard and the wildcat give her a body and a retinue - the first pair enveloping, the second regal.

【白话串讲】废名写《山鬼》：“山鬼踯躅，夜游之乐，明月为灯，溪水为裳”——“披薜荔兮带女萝，既含睇兮又宜笑”——“乘赤豹兮从文狸”——他写山鬼——乘赤豹兮从文狸。【意象与手法】前四句以“明月为灯，溪水为裳”的现代笔意写山鬼夜游的清绝之境，后四句直取屈赋原文，把远古山鬼的幽艳情态置于白话的语境中，古意与今声交融。以禅意写神话。【情感与主旨】废名以现代白话改写《楚辞·九歌·山鬼》之作，是废名融古典于现代、以禅意写神话的独特诗风的体现。【名句点睛】常考“明月为灯，溪水为裳”写山鬼夜游；“乘赤豹兮从文狸”取屈赋原文写山鬼幽艳。

Background

Fei Ming (1901-1967), that is Feng Wenbing, was from Huangmei in Hubei, a disciple of Zhou Zuoren and one of the most idiosyncratic prose writers and poets of modern China, whose work is famous for difficulty and for its Buddhist cast of mind. 'Mountain Ghost' rewrites Qu Yuan under that influence. The Mountain Ghost is one of the eleven songs of the Nine Songs in the Chu anthology: a shrine song for a goddess of a mountain who waits for her lover and is not released by his absence.

此诗为废名（冯文炳）的现代诗作，收于其诗集中。废名（1901—1967），湖北黄梅人，现代著名小说家、诗人，周作人的弟子，其诗文以「涩」著称，深得佛理禅趣，又浸润于古典文学，尤好《楚辞》《古诗十九首》。《九歌·山鬼》为屈原《楚辞·九歌》中的名篇，写山中女神等待爱人而不得的幽怨之情，以「若有人兮山之阿，被薜荔兮带女萝」「既含睇兮又宜笑，子慕予兮善窈窕」「乘赤豹兮从文狸」诸句，把山鬼写得既美丽神秘又幽怨痴情。废名此诗以现代白话重写这一古老题材，其用意不在翻译，而在「造境」：前四句「山鬼踯躅，夜游之乐，明月为灯，溪水为裳」，是废名自己的创造，以极简的白话勾勒出山鬼夜游的画面，明月、溪水皆化入其身，清绝而有禅意；后四句则直接采用《九歌·山鬼》原文（略有文字改动），使远古的楚声在现代的语体中复响，古今相映成趣。这种「以今释古、以古入今」的写法，正是废名「将古典的意境现代化，将现代的语言古典化」诗学理想的实践，也是其佛学思想中「万法本空、色即是空」的观照在神话题材上的折射——山鬼的美丽与痴情，在废名笔下，既真切又仿佛隔着一层空明的水。

Art

The economy of the poem rests on one contrast: four short four-character lines of plain modern Chinese, then four lines that restore the xi caesura of the Chu verse. Because the modern lines are so economical - three or four characters apiece, almost telegraphic - the abrupt entry of the fig-leaf and creeper line sounds like another voice in the same room. The images pair off: moon and stream envelop her, while fig-leaf, vine, leopard and wildcat give her a body and a train. Nothing is explained and the two halves never quite meet; that gap is the poem's meaning, a modern sensibility looking at an older one.

此诗艺术上以「简」与「幻」为特色，八句之中完成了一个神话画面的再造。前四句是废名的创造，以现代白话勾勒山鬼夜游之境：「山鬼踯躅」以「踯躅」写其徘徊不前的姿态，一个动作写尽等待与犹豫；「夜游之乐」四字，写山鬼夜游的趣味，语带现代的简洁；「明月为灯，溪水为裳」是此诗的警句，以明月为灯、以溪水为裳，把山鬼与天地万物融为一体——月亮是她的灯火，溪水是她的衣裳，身外之物尽化其用，其形象之清绝、想象之空灵，令人叹绝。后四句复归屈赋原文：「披薜荔兮带女萝，既含睇兮又宜笑，子慕予兮善窈窕，乘赤豹兮从文狸」，楚辞的「兮」字句直接进入白话诗体，与前面的白话句式形成文白相间的节奏，古艳的意象（薜荔、女萝、赤豹、文狸）与现代的简淡（明月为灯、溪水为裳）并置，产生奇特的审美张力。全诗八句，前简后繁、前淡后艳，恰如山鬼由远及近、由虚入实：先是月光溪水间的清影，后是薜荔赤豹间的艳姿，虚实相生，古今互映，把《九歌》山鬼的幽艳与废名式的空灵熔于一炉，是现代诗化用古典的杰作。

Allusions

Everything after the fourth line is Qu Yuan. The fig-leaf and creeping vine, the red leopard and the striped wildcat all come from 'Nine Songs: Mountain Ghost', which tells of a mountain goddess waiting among the herbs of the hill for the lord she loves. The moon and stream are Fei Ming's own invention, though their quiet of water and light belongs to the whole habit of Chinese poetry. The poem is therefore built as quotation and counterpoint rather than as borrowing, and the borrowed lines are what give the modern half its weight.

此诗前四句为废名自造，后四句则几乎直用屈原《九歌·山鬼》原文，全诗即建立在与楚辞的互文之上。「山鬼」出于《九歌·山鬼》「若有人兮山之阿，被薜荔兮带女萝」，屈原笔下的山鬼，是居于深山、披薜荔带女萝的美丽女神，其「既含睇兮又宜笑」「乘赤豹兮从文狸」的形象，融神秘与美丽、幽怨与痴情于一身，是楚辞中最动人的神祇之一。「明月为灯，溪水为裳」虽为废名新造，而意象亦有来历：明月照水，本是中国诗歌中清绝之境的经典组合，李白的「举杯邀明月」「水中捞月」与谢灵运的山水清晖皆可通观；以月为灯、以水为裳，更带有佛家「色空」观照的意味——明月非灯而可以为灯，溪水非裳而可以为裳，万物皆可化用，正是废名禅学思想的诗化表达。至于「赤豹」「文狸」，皆出于《九歌·山鬼》原文，赤豹为红色的豹，文狸为有花纹的狸，皆山鬼的坐骑与随从，古艳而神秘。全诗以楚辞为底本而加以现代再造，典故非为炫学，而是以古艳的意象托起空灵的意境，正是废名「化古为新」诗学实践的体现。

Commentary

The poem is frequently cited as the clearest demonstration of Fei Ming's programme of making the classical modern and the modern classical. Its plainness has kept it readable where much of his work resists interpretation, and readers have responded to the unexpected entrance of the archaic lines into modern verse. Later poets who rewrite classical materials in modern Chinese, including a generation associated with the Misty Poetry circle, treated it as precedent: a short lyric can be an argument with an anthology.

读此诗，最值得注意的是它在极短的篇幅里，完成了一场「古今对话」。前四句是废名自己的声音，用白话把山鬼置于明月、溪水之间，写她踯躅徘徊、夜游自乐——这分明是废名式的山鬼，清冷、空灵、仿佛隔着禅意的水镜；后四句却忽然响起屈原的楚声，薜荔、女萝、含睇、宜笑、赤豹、文狸，古艳的意象如潮水般涌来，把那个幽怨痴情、乘豹从狸的远古女神重新请回。两种声音、两种时代、两种审美，在同一首诗里并置、碰撞、交融：白话的简洁稀释了楚辞的秾艳，而楚辞的古艳又充实了白话的空灵。这种写法，既是对经典的致敬，也是对经典的再创造——废名并没有简单翻译《山鬼》，而是让屈原的女神在自己的月光与溪水间重新显形。而全诗最耐人寻味处，在于那层挥之不去的「空」：山鬼踯躅，等的是什么？明月为灯，照的又是谁？废名以禅者之眼写这位痴情的女神，使她的美丽与等待都染上了一层「色即是空」的意味——她美得那样真切，又仿佛只是一个清凉的梦。废名诗向以「难懂」著称，此诗却以简洁的意象、鲜明的画面，让古典与现代、神话与禅意在一首诗里达成了罕见的和谐，是现代诗化用古典的典范之作。

Prosody

Form Modern free verse (a short poem mixing vernacular and classical)现代自由诗（文白相间的短章）

Rhyme Free verse with no fixed rime, though the lingering and the robe give a faint near-echo that keeps the opening loose. The last four lines carry the xi cadence of the Chu verse, whose rimes - luo, xiao, tiao, li - fall naturally one after another.此诗为现代自由诗，前四句以白话写成，不押严整韵脚，而「踯躅」「裳」等字间有协韵，形成疏淡的节奏；后四句采楚辞原文，以「兮」字句构成强烈的节奏，「萝」「笑」「窕」「狸」等字自然押韵，声调由白话的平实转楚辞的古艳，恰如两种声乐在一首诗里的交接。整体音调前淡后艳、前疏后密，正是此诗「古今对话」在声音上的体现。

Tone pattern Sound: the opening four-character lines are quick and light, like footsteps under moonlight; the xi lines draw out and sing, so the poem accelerates and then slows. The change of metre tracks the change of voice exactly.句式上，前四句「山鬼踯躅，夜游之乐，明月为灯，溪水为裳」，以四言短句连排，节奏明快，如月光下轻快的脚步；后四句转入楚辞的「兮」字句，「披薜荔兮带女萝，既含睇兮又宜笑，子慕予兮善窈窕，乘赤豹兮从文狸」，以「兮」字为节拍的标志，声调悠长婉转，如远古的楚声在现代复响。全诗由四言短句的明快到「兮」字长句的悠扬，节奏的转换与文白语体的转换同步，正合全诗由白话新造到楚辞原文的结构安排，是此诗在声律上的匠心。

Reading note Note: the prosody mirrors the structure of the poem. Plain four-character speech first, then the long-drawn xi line of the Chu anthology, so the verse itself performs the meeting of modern and ancient. The frequent mid-line pause of the xi becomes the poem's principal music, and the short vernacular lines set against it are what make the quoting sound like a voice from elsewhere.作为现代自由诗，《山鬼》的声律之美，在于它把两种语体、两种节奏并置在一首诗里。前四句是废名的白话创造，四言短句，明快而空灵，如月光溪水般清浅；后四句是屈原的楚辞原文，「兮」字长句，悠扬而古艳，如远古的山风扑面。这种「先今后古、先淡后艳」的结构，使全诗在声音上形成了鲜明的对比与回响：白话的简洁稀释了楚辞的秾艳，而楚辞的悠扬又丰富了白话的节奏。废名此诗，正可视为其「化古为新」诗学理想的一次实验——他没有让古语淹没今声，也没有让今声消解古意，而是让两者在同一首诗里相映成趣，各得其所。就全诗而言，此诗以极简的篇幅完成了对《九歌·山鬼》的现代重写，既保留了屈原笔下山鬼的美丽、神秘与痴情，又注入了废名式的空灵与禅意，是现代诗人以古典为资源、以白话为媒介进行创造性转化的典范之作。

Line by line

明月为灯，

The bright moon for a lamp,

山鬼以天上的一轮明月作为她夜游的灯火，又以山间的溪水作为她的衣裳。

The mountain spirit takes the bright moon overhead as her lantern, and the mountain stream as her garment.

这两句（明月为灯、溪水为裳）是全诗最见匠心的创造，也是废名「以禅意造境」的警句。「明月为灯」，把天上的一轮明月化为山鬼夜游的灯火——月光本是天地间的光，诗人却把它认作山鬼专属的灯，仿佛整个世界都在为她照明；「溪水为裳」，把山间的溪水化为山鬼的衣裳——水流本是流动的，诗人却让它成为披在身上的衣，清冽而飘逸。两句皆是「以天地为身外之物」的写法，月为我灯、水为我裳，山鬼与自然万物融为一体，其形象之清绝、境界之空灵，令人悠然神往。此句的妙处，在于以最简的语汇创造最奇的意象，既有古典的「天人合一」之境，又带着废名式的禅意空明——灯可因明月而成，裳可因溪水而成，万物本空，皆可化用，正是「色不异空」的观照。

These lines ('bright moon as lantern, stream as robe') are the most artful creation of the poem and the aphoristic stroke of Fei Ming's 'zen-imbued scenery.' 'The bright moon as lantern' turns the moon in the sky into the lamp of the spirit's night wandering—moonlight is the light of heaven and earth, yet the poet claims it as the spirit's own lamp, as if the whole world were lit for her. The two lines are written in the manner of 'taking heaven and earth as one's own': moon my lamp, water my robe, the mountain spirit fused with all nature, her figure luminous, her realm airy and void, stirring the reader's longing. The art lies in creating the strangest image with the simplest words, at once holding the classical 'unity of heaven and man' and carrying Fei Ming's zen-like emptiness—the lamp may be made of the moon, the robe of the stream, all things void yet transformable, the very contemplation of 'form is no other than emptiness.'

披薜荔兮带女萝，

She wears the vine of fig-leaves, and girds herself with creeping vine;

山鬼身披薜荔，腰束女萝，以香草为衣饰。

She is clad in fig-roots and girdled with dodder, decked in the fragrant plants of the hills.

这一句直接取自屈原《九歌·山鬼》「被薜荔兮带女萝」，是废名对楚辞原文的采撷。「薜荔」与「女萝」皆为山中香草，山鬼以薜荔为衣、以女萝为带，其装饰不为华美，而是与山林草木同其气息——她是山中的精灵，所以衣饰皆是山中的草木。「披」写披于身上，「带」写系于腰间，一披一带，尽写山鬼的服饰之态，古艳而神秘。此句进入现代白话诗体，与前面的「明月为灯，溪水为裳」相映成趣：一为废名的空灵新造，一为屈原的古艳原文，同写山鬼之衣，而一以月水写其清，一以草木写其艳，古今两种审美在同一意象上交汇，正是此诗「古今对话」的枢纽。

This line is taken directly from Qu Yuan's 'Mountain Spirit' in the Nine Songs—'clad in fig-roots, girdled with dodder'—and is Fei Ming's appropriation of the Chuci original. The fig-root and dodder are both fragrant mountain plants; the spirit wears the fig-root and girdles the dodder, her adornment not splendor but the very breath of the forest—she is the sprite of the hills, and her dress is made of the hill's own growth. 'Clad' writes the draping, 'girdled' the binding at the waist; the one draping, one girdling, exhaust the antique, mysterious dress. Entering the modern vernacular poem, it sets off the opening 'bright moon as lantern, stream as robe': one a new airy creation of Fei Ming, one an antique line of Qu Yuan, both writing the spirit's dress, the one through moon and water for purity, the other through plants for richness, two aesthetics of past and present meeting on one image—the hinge of this poem's 'dialogue of old and new.'

乘赤豹兮从文狸。

She rides the red leopard, followed by the striped wildcat.

山鬼乘着赤色的豹子，后面跟随着有花纹的狸。

She rides the red leopard, followed by the patterned civet.

这一句取自屈原《九歌·山鬼》「乘赤豹兮从文狸」，以赤豹与文狸写山鬼的坐骑与随从，是全诗最富神秘色彩的意象。「赤豹」为红色的豹，凶猛而华丽；「文狸」为有花纹的狸，灵巧而神秘。山鬼以赤豹为乘、以文狸为从，一前一后，一猛一灵，正见其山神之尊贵与神秘——她不是寻常的闺中女子，而是驱策猛兽的山中女神。「乘」写其驾驭，「从」写其随从，一乘一从，尽写山鬼出行时的威仪与仪仗。此句与「披薜荔兮带女萝」相接，薜荔女萝写其服饰之香草，赤豹文狸写其出行之灵兽，衣饰与坐骑皆非凡物，把山鬼的美丽、神秘与尊贵写得淋漓尽致。废名采此句入诗，既保留了楚辞的古艳，又让它与现代白话的淡雅并置，古意盎然。

This line, taken from Qu Yuan's 'Mountain Spirit'—'riding the red leopard, attended by the patterned civet'—uses the red leopard and patterned civet for the spirit's mount and retinue, the most mysterious image of the poem. The red leopard is a crimson beast, fierce and splendid; the patterned civet is a marked cat, sly and mysterious. The spirit rides the red leopard and is followed by the civet, one before, one behind, one fierce, one sly, showing her dignity and mystery as a goddess of the hills—she is no ordinary chamber woman but the mountain goddess who drives wild beasts. 'Rides' writes her mastery, 'followed' her retinue, the one riding, one following, exhausting the majesty and pageantry of her progress. Joined to 'clad in fig-roots, girdled with dodder,' the fragrant dress and the spirit-beast mount alike unearthly, writing her beauty, mystery, and dignity to the full. Fei Ming takes the line into his poem, keeping the antique splendor of Chuci while setting it beside the plainness of modern vernacular, the ancient air rich.

Study

Word focus

踯躅 to linger, to pace back and forth; the ghost's hesitant walk, which turns the opening of the poem into a posture of waiting. 「山鬼踯躅」之「踯躅」，写山鬼徘徊不前的姿态，是全诗人物形象的第一笔。「踯躅」本指行步徘徊、徘徊不进，诗人以此写山鬼，一个动作便写尽她的等待与犹豫——她在山中徘徊，是在等人，还是在寻什么？踯躅的姿态里，藏着《九歌·山鬼》「怨公子兮怅忘归」的幽怨余韵。以「踯躅」起笔，既见其神思之恍惚，又为「夜游之乐」的悠游与「含睇宜笑」的痴情作了铺垫。此词古已有之，废名拈入白话诗中，于现代语体中透出古意，正是其「以古语入新诗」的体现，也是山鬼形象从楚辞走进现代的第一道门。

含睇 to glance with a feeling held in check; from the original text, and paired with smiling so that both the eye and the mouth betray a quiet happiness. 「既含睇兮又宜笑」之「含睇」，出自屈原《九歌·山鬼》原文。「睇」为微微斜视、流盼之意，「含睇」即含情脉脉地斜眼注视，写眼神之含情未露；「宜笑」即笑起来很好看，写笑容之自然动人。「含睇」与「宜笑」相配，一写目，一写口，写尽山鬼顾盼生辉、嫣然一笑的情态，美丽而不轻佻，深情而不外露。废名采此语入诗，既保楚辞的古典，又以「既……又……」的白话连接，使古艳的词汇在现代的句式中自然流转。以「含睇宜笑」写山鬼之容，正是屈原以神写情的高妙处，也是废名对经典意象的精准采撷。

窈窕 slender and fair; the classical word for a woman's graceful bearing, borrowed here for a mountain goddess. 「子慕予兮善窈窕」之「窈窕」，出自《九歌·山鬼》，本指女子体态美好、娴静大方，又暗含「淑女」之美。《诗经》有「窈窕淑女，君子好逑」，屈原以「善窈窕」写山鬼的美好身姿，废名采入此诗，遂使这远古山神的「窈窕」与《诗经》中的人间淑女遥相呼应。以「窈窕」写山鬼，既是写其身姿之美好，也暗含其性情之娴静——她虽为山神，而「子慕予兮」的痴情，与人间女子一般无二。废名以此古语入白话诗，使山鬼的形象既神秘又亲切，既古艳又有人情，正是此诗「以古写神、以神写情」的妙处。

山鬼