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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

鹊桥仙·赠鹭鸶

Quexiaoqiao: To an Egret

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

咏物Object Poetry 闲适Leisure

溪边白鹭，来吾告汝：溪里鱼儿堪数。
主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处。
白沙远浦，青泥别渚，剩有虾跳鳅舞。
任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕。

White egret by the brook, come here - let me tell you: the fish in this stream can be counted.
The master pities you, so you should pity the fish: let thing and self dwell joyfully in one place.
White sands on the far shore, blue mud on the other islet - there are still shrimps leaping and loaches dancing.
Go where you please; fly off and come back when you are full - and I will watch the single plume the wind stirs on your head.

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Meaning

During his retirement at Piaoquan, Xin Qiji addresses an egret fishing in the stream beside his house. He tells the bird that the fish in the brook are few enough to count, and asks that, since he pities the bird, the bird should pity the fish, so that creature and man may live happily together. He then points out that the sandbanks and mudflats still have shrimps and loaches in plenty. The lyric ends by letting the bird go where it likes, the poet content to watch the single feather stirring on its head.

溪边白鹭，来吾告汝：溪里鱼儿堪数。主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处。白沙远浦，青泥别渚，剩有虾跳鳅舞。任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poet calls to an egret and delivers a mock-serious lecture: the fish in this brook are so few they can be counted, so please spare them. Since I am kind to you, be kind to the fish, and let us all live happily in one place. Then, more practically, he points out the other shores where shrimps leap and loaches dance, gives the bird leave to come and go, and watches the wind lift the feather on its head. [Structure] The upper stanza is the appeal - the address, the argument, the request. The lower stanza is the release - the alternative food, the permission to leave, the closing image of the feather. [Imagery] The comedy depends on treating a bird as a moral agent. The egret is addressed as a guest, argued with as though it understood justice, and finally released as though it had accepted the terms. The whole poem is a joke, but a joke with a philosophy in it: the ideal relation between self and world is one of mutual forbearance.

【白话串讲】辛弃疾写《鹊桥仙·赠鹭鸶》：“溪边白鹭，来吾告汝：溪里鱼儿堪数”——“主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处”——“任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕”——他劝鹭鸶少吃鱼——要物我欣然一处。【意象与手法】此词写咏物，以闲适写咏物，是辛弃疾的名篇。上片写劝鹭：「溪边白鹭，来吾告汝：溪里鱼儿堪数。主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处」写溪边白鹭、来吾告汝、主人怜汝汝怜鱼——写尽劝鹭的怜惜；下片写任去：「白沙远浦，青泥别渚，剩有虾跳鳅舞。任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕」写白沙远浦、任君飞去饱时来——写尽任去的旷达。全词以闲适写咏物，写尽劝鹭的怜惜与任去的旷达，是辛弃疾的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写咏物，以闲适写咏物，是辛弃疾的名篇。此词写辛弃疾闲居瓢泉时与溪边白鹭的对话。辛弃疾晚年闲居上饶带湖、瓢泉，与山水为邻。此词以拟人的笔法写鹭鸶：先劝白鹭「溪里鱼儿堪数」，溪中之鱼已不多，望白鹭怜惜而「物我欣然一处」；后见白鹭飞去，又任其「飞去饱时来」，看它头上「风吹一缕」的潇洒。全词以对话写物我，正见辛弃疾闲居中物我相忘的闲适。此词写劝鹭：溪边白鹭，来吾告汝——写溪边白鹭、来吾告汝，写尽劝鹭的告语；溪里鱼儿堪数，主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处——写溪里鱼儿堪数、主人怜汝汝怜鱼、要物我欣然一处，写尽物我的相惜；白沙远浦，青泥别渚，剩有虾跳鳅舞——写白沙远浦、青泥别渚、剩有虾跳鳅舞，写尽别渚的虾鳅；任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕——写任君飞去饱时来、看头上风吹一缕，写尽任去的旷达。全词以闲适写咏物——那「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」写尽物我的相惜，「任君飞去饱时来」写尽任去的旷达，写尽劝鹭的怜惜与任去的旷达，是理解辛弃疾闲适词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处」写物我的相惜；「任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕」写任去的旷达；以及全词以闲适写咏物、以拟人写物我的手法。

Background

Xin Qiji (1140-1207), courtesy name You'an, styled Jiaxuan, was a native of Licheng in present-day Jinan, Shandong, and the leading Southern Song lyricist; with Su Shi he forms the paired reputation of Su-Xin, and he is the representative of the heroic manner. This lyric was written during his retirement at Piaoquan, by the lakes and hills of Shangrao in Jiangxi. In his last years, dismissed from office and living beside the water, he made the natural world his neighbourhood. The piece is built as a conversation with an egret: first he asks it to spare the fish, since the stream holds so few; then, seeing it fly off, he lets it go and watches the wind lift its feather. Behind the playfulness lies the temper of a man who has lost the command of armies and now exercises only kindness to birds.

此词写咏物，以闲适写咏物，是辛弃疾的名篇。辛弃疾（1140—1207），字幼安，号稼轩，历城（今山东济南）人，南宋词人，与苏轼并称「苏辛」，为豪放词代表。此词写辛弃疾闲居瓢泉时与溪边白鹭的对话。辛弃疾晚年闲居上饶带湖、瓢泉，与山水为邻。此词以拟人的笔法写鹭鸶：先劝白鹭「溪里鱼儿堪数」，溪中之鱼已不多，望白鹭怜惜而「物我欣然一处」；后见白鹭飞去，又任其「飞去饱时来」，看它头上「风吹一缕」的潇洒。全词以对话写物我，正见辛弃疾闲居中物我相忘的闲适。此词写劝鹭：「溪边白鹭，来吾告汝」写溪边白鹭、来吾告汝——写尽劝鹭的告语（溪边白鹭，来吾告汝）；「溪里鱼儿堪数，主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处」写溪里鱼儿堪数、主人怜汝汝怜鱼、要物我欣然一处——写尽物我的相惜（溪里鱼儿堪数，主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处）；「白沙远浦，青泥别渚，剩有虾跳鳅舞」写白沙远浦、青泥别渚、剩有虾跳鳅舞——写尽别渚的虾鳅（白沙远浦，青泥别渚，剩有虾跳鳅舞）；「任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕」写任君飞去饱时来、看头上风吹一缕——写尽任去的旷达（任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕）。全词以闲适写咏物，写尽劝鹭的怜惜与任去的旷达，是理解辛弃疾闲适词的重要篇章。

Art

Four techniques carry the lyric. First, personification: the egret is summoned, addressed and reasoned with as though it were a tenant. Second, dialogue structures the whole: the master pities you and you should pity the fish is an exchange of obligations, and the reciprocal phrasing is the poetic idea in miniature. Third, plain description paints the alternatives: white sand and blue mud, shrimps leaping and loaches dancing, a small aquatic world drawn in two colours. Fourth, open-handedness closes it: let the bird go where it will and come back when it is full. Two further touches matter. The opening call, come and let me tell you, establishes intimacy at once, as though the bird were a neighbour rather than a subject. And the closing detail - a single feather stirred by the wind - is a deliberately idle stroke, the image of a man with nothing more urgent to do than watch a bird's plume.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以拟人写白鹭。「溪边白鹭，来吾告汝」以拟人写白鹭——那「来吾告汝」写尽告鹭的拟人，以拟人写尽劝鹭的怜惜。其二，以对话写物我。「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」以对话写物我——那「怜汝」「怜鱼」写尽相惜的对话，以对话写尽物我的相惜。其三，以白描写别渚。「白沙远浦，青泥别渚」以白描写别渚——那「白沙」「青泥」写尽别渚的景致，以白描写尽虾跳鳅舞。其四，以旷达写任去。「任君飞去饱时来」以旷达写任去——那「任君」写尽任去的旷达，以旷达写尽物我的相忘。此外，此词上片写劝鹭的怜惜，下片写任去的旷达，由惜及放，正是咏物词「托物言志」的写法。四重手法，使此词以闲适写咏物，写尽劝鹭的怜惜与任去的旷达，是辛弃疾的代表作。此词还善于以「溪边白鹭，来吾告汝」的呼告起句写与鹭对语——那「来吾告汝」写尽呼告的亲切，正是以鹭为友的写照，以呼告写尽物我的相惜。又善以「看头上、风吹一缕」的闲笔写鹭飞之态——风吹一缕，正见鹭羽轻扬的潇洒，以闲笔写尽任去的旷达。

Allusions

The language belongs to the traditions of object-writing and of retirement. The egret is one of the most familiar birds in Chinese poetry, from Du Fu's line of egrets rising into the blue sky. The phrase thing and self recalls the vocabulary of the forgetting of both thing and self, the state in which subject and object cease to be opposed. Joyfully echoes the well-known phrase from Tao Yuanming about joyfully planning to go. White sand and blue mud belong to the standard palette of riverbank description, blue mud recalling Li Bai's windings of the Blue Mud road. Shrimps leaping and loaches dancing invert the learned phrase about fish leaping and kites flying, which describes the natural order working at every level. Most importantly, the ideal of thing and self dwelling joyfully in one place reaches back to Zhuangzi's butterfly dream and his doctrine of the equality of things, in which the self is only one transformation among many.

此词的用语深植于咏物与闲适传统。「白鹭」令人想到「白鹭」写白鹭的意象——也令人想到「两个黄鹂鸣翠柳，一行白鹭上青天」（杜甫）的意象；「物我」令人想到「物我」写物我相忘的意象——也令人想到「物我两忘」的意象；「欣然」令人想到「欣然」写欣悦的意象——也令人想到「欣然规往」（陶渊明）的意象；「白沙」令人想到「白沙」写白沙滩的意象——也令人想到「白沙在涅」之外的沙渚意象；「青泥」令人想到「青泥」写青泥滩的意象——也令人想到「青泥何盘盘」（李白）的意象；「虾跳鳅舞」令人想到「虾跳鳅舞」写虾鳅的意象——也令人想到「鱼跃鸢飞」的意象。全词化用白鹭、物我、欣然、白沙、青泥、虾跳鳅舞的意象，以闲适写咏物，正是辛弃疾「以文为词」而善写趣、承咏物传统写物我之本领。「白鹭」令人想到杜甫《绝句》「一行白鹭上青天」的意象；「物我欣然一处」令人想到庄周梦蝶「物化」的哲学传统——物我相忘，正与庄子齐物精神相通。

Commentary

The lyric is counted among Xin Qiji's finest pieces of retirement and is the standard Song example of writing about an egret. Qing critics praised it as object-writing done with ease, lively and natural; modern readers single out the line about master pitying bird and bird pitying fish. Its special value in the history of the form is that it brings the prose manner - the argument, the second person, the mock-earnest reasoning - into a short lyric, and does so without losing charm. Read beside his village piece about the youngest child peeling lotus pods by the brook, it shows the same retirement at two registers, one domestic and one natural. For readers today it is the clearest window onto Xin Qiji's lighter manner: a general arguing courtesy with a fishing bird, and winning.

此词历来被推为辛弃疾闲适词的名篇，也是宋词咏物写鹭鸶的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以闲适写咏物，活泼自然」；近人更指出「主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处」写物我的相惜，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以六十字的词写尽劝鹭的怜惜与任去的旷达——那溪边，那白鹭，那来吾告汝，那溪里，那鱼儿堪数，那主人怜汝，那汝怜鱼，那物我，那欣然一处，那白沙，那远浦，那青泥，那别渚，那虾跳鳅舞，那任君飞去，那饱时来，那风吹一缕，都写尽了辛弃疾笔下的赠鹭鸶；那「任君飞去饱时来」更以旷达写尽任去的潇洒。此词与辛弃疾《清平乐·村居》（「最喜小儿亡赖」）同为闲适名篇，一写「溪头卧剥莲蓬」的村居（清平乐），一写「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」的赠鹭（鹊桥仙）；又与杜甫《绝句》「两个黄鹂鸣翠柳」的咏物传统一脉相承，可见中国词写物我的传统。对于今日读者，此词是理解辛弃疾闲适词的窗口，也是宋词写物我的经典——那风中一缕的白鹭，穿越千年，仍在诉说着物我相忘的旷达。

Prosody

Form Song lyric to the tune Quexiaoqiao, four lines to each stanza词·鹊桥仙

Rhyme Oblique-tone rhyme carried throughout on the words for you, count, fish, place, islet, dance, plume. One rhyme from opening to close.词牌鹊桥仙，押「汝」「数」「鱼」「处」「渚」「舞」「缕」等韵，仄韵一韵到底

Tone pattern Rhyming in the oblique tone throughout, the music is light and brisk, well matched to the ease and playfulness of the subject.此词为鹊桥仙，仄韵一韵到底，音节轻快，正合闲适的轻快。

Reading note The upper stanza holds the summons, the counting of the fish and the request for mutual kindness; the lower stanza holds the sandbanks, the shrimps and loaches, and the release of the bird. Because the rhyme falls on deflected rather than level tones, each line ends with a downward turn, which gives the lyric the quick, decisive lilt of speech rather than the long sustain of song. In reading, the request for mutual pity should be light and smiling, and the closing line about the single feather should be slowed, so the piece ends on an image rather than a point. Xin Qiji is famous for the heroic manner, but this lyric shows how completely he could write prose into a tune.此词为《鹊桥仙》词牌，上片四句——「溪边白鹭，来吾告汝：溪里鱼儿堪数。主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处」，下片四句——「白沙远浦，青泥别渚，剩有虾跳鳅舞。任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕」，押仄韵（汝、数、鱼、处、渚、舞、缕），一韵到底，音节轻快。全词以闲适写咏物：上片写劝鹭的怜惜（溪边白鹭、主人怜汝汝怜鱼），下片写任去的旷达（白沙远浦、任君飞去饱时来）。词体短章，前写劝鹭，后写任去，以「看头上、风吹一缕」写尽任去的潇洒，正见辛弃疾「以文为词」的本色。诵读此词，宜以轻快的语调读「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」的相惜，以洒脱的语调读「任君飞去饱时来」的任去，结句要读得轻快而有余韵，方能传达出辛弃疾的活泼自然。辛弃疾词以「豪放」著称，此词正是其闲适词的典范。

Line by line

主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处

The master pities you, so you should pity the fish: let thing and self dwell joyfully in one place.

主人怜汝汝怜鱼，要物我、欣然一处。

The master pities you, and you pity the fish; we would have thing and self, glad together in one place.

此二句是全词写物我的核心，以主人怜汝汝怜鱼写怜鱼，以要物我欣然一处写物我，写尽物我的相惜，是千古名句。「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」写主人怜汝汝怜鱼——那「主人怜汝」写主人怜汝，「汝怜鱼」写汝怜鱼，写尽相惜的怜鱼；「要物我、欣然一处」写要物我欣然一处——那「物我」写物我，「欣然一处」写欣然一处，写尽物我的相惜。这句的深意在于：它以「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」的怜鱼与「要物我、欣然一处」的物我，写尽物我的相惜——主人怜汝汝怜鱼，那「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」写尽相惜的怜鱼——主人怜汝，正是爱鹭的写照，那「汝怜鱼」写尽物我的相惜；要物我欣然一处，那「要物我欣然一处」写尽物我的相惜——物我欣然，正是人与自然相得的写照，那「欣然一处」写尽物我的相惜；那「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」写尽相惜的怜鱼，那「要物我欣然一处」写尽物我的相惜，一写怜鱼，一写物我，写尽物我的相惜——主人怜鹭而鹭怜鱼，正是物我相忘的写照；此二句以怜鱼、物我写尽物我的相惜，也为下文的任去作铺垫，也让此二句成为全词写物我的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「我很喜欢你，你也别把鱼吃光了」，则失其词趣；唯以「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」写怜鱼、「要物我欣然一处」写物我，写尽物我的相惜，也让此二句成为全词写物我的核心。

The two lines are the core of the ci's thing and self, writing the pity for the fish through the master pities you, and you pity the fish and the thing-self through we would have thing and self, glad together in one place, exhausting the mutual fondness. The master pities you, and you pity the fish is precisely the picture of the love for the egret; we would have thing and self, glad together in one place precisely the picture of man and nature at one. The deep meaning: the master pities the egret and the egret spares the fish, precisely the picture of the forgetfulness of self and thing. One writes the pity for the fish, one the thing-self, exhausting the mutual fondness. Were it said plainly I like you very much, and don't eat all the fish, the ci's charm would be lost; only through the double pity and the glad togetherness is the mutual fondness exhausted, preparing the later free flight and making the lines the core of the ci.

任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕

Go where you please; fly off and come back when you are full - and I will watch the single plume the wind stirs on your head.

任君飞去饱时来，看头上、风吹一缕。

Fly where you will; come back when fed — and see, a single feather on your head, stirring in the wind.

此二句是全词写旷达的核心，以任君飞去饱时来写任去，以看头上风吹一缕写风吹，写尽任去的旷达，是千古名句。「任君飞去饱时来」写任君飞去饱时来——那「任君飞去」写任君飞去，「饱时来」写饱时来，写尽任去的旷达；「看头上、风吹一缕」写看头上风吹一缕——那「看头上」写看头上，「风吹一缕」写风吹一缕，写尽风吹的潇洒。这句的深意在于：它以「任君飞去饱时来」的任去与「看头上风吹一缕」的风吹，写尽任去的旷达——任君飞去饱时来，那「任君飞去饱时来」写尽任去的旷达——任君飞去，正是任其自由的写照，那「饱时来」写尽物我的相忘；看头上风吹一缕，那「看头上风吹一缕」写尽风吹的潇洒——看头上风吹一缕，正是闲看鹭飞的写照，那「风吹一缕」写尽任去的旷达；那「任君飞去饱时来」写尽任去的旷达，那「看头上风吹一缕」写尽风吹的潇洒，一写任去，一写闲看，写尽任去的旷达——任鹭飞去而闲看风吹，正是物我相忘的写照；此二句以任去、风吹写尽任去的旷达，也让此二句成为全词写旷达的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「你想去哪就去哪吧，我看着你飞」，则失其画面；唯以「任君飞去饱时来」写任去、「看头上风吹一缕」写风吹，写尽任去的旷达，也让此二句成为全词写旷达的核心。

The two lines are the core of the ci's magnanimity, writing the free flight through fly where you will; come back when fed and the wind-blown feather through and see, a single feather on your head, stirring in the wind, exhausting the magnanimity of letting go. Fly where you will; come back when fed is precisely the picture of letting it be free; and see, a single feather on your head, stirring in the wind precisely the picture of the idle watching. The deep meaning: letting the egret fly and idly watching the wind, precisely the picture of the forgetfulness of self and thing. One writes the letting go, one the idle watching, exhausting the magnanimity. Were it said plainly go wherever you like, I'll watch you fly, the picture would be lost; only through the free flight and the wind-blown feather is the magnanimity exhausted, making the lines the core of the ci.

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Word focus

怜 In the phrase about master pitying bird and bird pitying fish, this verb means to cherish, to feel tender concern for. Its force here lies in being reciprocal: the same word is applied upward from man to bird and downward from bird to fish, so that one act of kindness is made to generate another and the whole chain of living things is bound by a single feeling. 「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」之「怜」字是写相惜的关键词，一个「怜」字写尽物我的相惜。怜者，怜爱、怜惜也。辛弃疾以「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」写相惜，这个「怜」字至少有双重意味：其一，写怜之双向——那「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」写主人怜汝汝怜鱼，那「怜」字写尽相惜的怜鱼——主人怜汝而汝怜鱼，正是以爱报爱的写照，那「怜」字写尽物我的相惜；其二，写情之厚——那「怜」字更是写厚——怜，正见爱物之深，那「怜」字写尽辛弃疾的仁心。以「怜」字写相惜，正是辛弃疾写物我的枢纽——若换作「爱」「惜」等字，则或失其与「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」「欣然一处」的配合，或失其写怜的意味；唯「怜」字，以主人怜汝汝怜鱼写尽怜之双向与爱物之深，与「要物我欣然一处」的物我相合，写尽物我的相惜，也让「主人怜汝汝怜鱼」成为全词写相惜的名句。

任 In the line letting the egret fly off and return, this verb means to allow, to let be, to leave to its own will. It is the word of non-possession: the poet claims no right over the bird he has just fed and lectured, and that release is what completes the lyric's ideal of creature and self dwelling together in freedom. 「任君飞去饱时来」之「任」字是写旷达的关键词，一个「任」字写尽任去的旷达。任者，任凭、任从也。辛弃疾以「任君飞去饱时来」写旷达，这个「任」字至少有双重意味：其一，写去之任——那「任君飞去饱时来」写任君飞去饱时来，那「任」字写尽任去的旷达——任君飞去，正是任其自由的写照，那「任」字写尽物我的相忘；其二，写心之宽——那「任」字更是写宽——任，正见胸襟的宽阔，那「任」字写尽闲居的旷达。以「任」字写旷达，正是辛弃疾写物我的枢纽——若换作「随」「纵」等字，则或失其与「君飞去」「饱时来」的配合，或失其写任的意味；唯「任」字，以任君飞去饱时来写尽去之任从与胸襟之宽阔，与「看头上风吹一缕」的闲看相合，写尽任去的旷达，也让「任君飞去饱时来」成为全词写旷达的名句。