桃花扇

姚晨给我的昆曲1699《桃花扇》，好看极了。惊艳。唱腔，做工，舞美， 无一不好。

莫愁湖上 酒卖斜阳
The sun's slanted rays fall on the lake; the wine stands ready for purchase.
学金粉南朝模样
We recreate the ancient glory of the Southern Dynasties.
莺颠燕狂 关甚兴亡
The oriole dips, the swallow madly wings. Ah, but birds care nothing for the fate of an empire!

侯方域(懒画眉)

乍暖风烟满江乡 花里行厨携着玉缸
The recent warmth lays a thin mist over the riverlands.
Among flowers we sip from jade goblets.
笛声吹乱客中肠
The melancholy flute troubles the heart.
莫过乌衣巷 是别姓人家新画梁
No need to wander where the old families once resided,
for their houses have passed to others.　　　　

众歌姬(秋夜月)

深画眉 不把红楼闭
We beauties paint our eyebrows, leaving the gates open for guests.
长板桥头垂杨细 丝丝牵惹游人骑
Over the bridgehead, the thin and weeping willows lure the visitors on
horseback with their silken catkins.
将筝弦紧系 把笙囊巧制
The strings of our zithers are tightly stretched,and the pipesprepared for playing.

侯方域(锦缠道)

望平康 凤城东 千门绿杨
The courtesan's quarters, east of the ancient palace, are filled with trees in bloom.
一路紫丝缰 引游郎 谁家乳燕双双
Young men go leisurely riding, while swallows too fly off in pairs.

李香君(秋夜月)

香梦回 才褪红鸳被
I awoke from sweet dreams, and slipped out of my downy blankets.
重点檀唇胭脂腻 匆匆挽个抛家髻
Then I applied rouge to my cheeks and paint to my supple lips, before hurriedly coiling my hair.
这春愁怎替 那新词且记
But what can disperse this vernal sorrow? My maidenly passions find expression only in song.

众歌姬(梧桐树)

生来粉黛围 跳入莺花队
We girls were born to the courtesan's charms,
一串歌喉 是俺金钱地
relying for our livelihood on the sweetness of our voices.
莫将红豆轻抛弃 学就晓风残月坠
We cannot abandon ourselves to a suitor; instead we are consecrated to our arts.
缓拍红牙 夺了宜春翠 门前系住王孙辔
Sound the clappers slowly as we dance; no palace beauties can compete with our charms. Young noblemen hang their bridles at our door.

侯方域(缑山月)

金粉未消亡 闻得六朝香
As long as you are here, grandeur still lives! How it reminds me of bygone glory!
满天涯烟草断人肠
And yet as far as the eye can see, this city, once so flourishing, has grown barren.
怕催花信紧 风风雨雨 误了春光
Oh, how I fear the winds and rains will bring the flowers to fall too early, and diminish the radiance of spring.

侯方域•李香君(小桃红)

匆匆忘却仙模样
I can scarcely tear my eyes from your fairy-like beauty.
春宵花月休成谎
On a spring evening when the moon is bright, one mustn't make false vows.
良缘到手难推让 准备着身赴高唐
Benevolent fate has led us together, and will not lightly let us go.
Prepare yourself for the bridal chambers.

侯方域(梁州序)

齐梁词赋 陈隋花柳
In the Southern Dynasties, the pleasures of literature and leisure
reached their apogee,
日日芳情迤逗
and scholars cloistered themselves off from the world with their favourites.
青衫偎倚 今番小杜扬州
My beloved’s gentle weight on my shoulder brings to mind that glorious era.
寻思描黛 指点吹箫 从此春入手
I paint her ebony eyebrows, and teach her to hold the flute.
Thus do I let the germ of love mature.
秀才渴病急须救
Ah, how I have pined for love.
偏是斜阳迟下楼 刚饮得一杯酒
Now, the sun disappears behind the hills, casting shadows on my now-empty cup.

李香君(梁州序)

楼台花颤 帘栊风抖
Flowers quiver in the courtesan’s quarters, the curtain trembles in the wind:
倚着雄姿英秀
I lean against my beloved, strong and daring.
春情无限 金钗肯与梳头
Our love knows no bounds; for though I am only a lowly courtesan,
I needn’t perform a concubine’s tasks.
闲花添艳 野草生香 消得夫人做
The wildflower displays brighter colours, the untamed herbs
smell sweeter. Though of low birth, still I yearn for noble station.
今宵灯影纱红透
The quilts are blushing in the lamplight.
见惯司空也应羞 破题儿真难就
For, even though this were an everyday matter, I should still be shy,
let alone the timidity of the very first time.

侯方域•李香君(节节高)

春宵一刻天长久 人前怎解芙蓉扣
In an amorous night, a moment may stretch to eternity. Though we yearned to
be alone during the feast, we dared not retire behind these lotus curtains,
盼到灯昏玳筵收 宫壶滴尽莲花漏
as the water-clock impatiently brimmed over.

李香君(川拨棹)

不思想 把话儿轻易讲
Do not speak without careful consideration, or flippantly make promises.
要与他消释灾殃 也提防旁人短长
If you in any way help him to avert the disaster which threatens his
life, you will expose yourself to slander.

侯方域(川拨棹)

平康巷 他能将名节讲
A courtesan too may cherish virtue.
偏是咱学校朝堂 混贤奸不问青黄
Indeed， it is rather we scholars who have ceased to make moral
distinctions.
节和名 非泛常 重和轻 须审详
Virtue and reputation are no common attributes.
Where they are concerned, careful consideration is called for.

八靠将(点绛唇)

旗卷军牙 射潮弩发鲸鲵怕
Banners flutter in the first ranks. A wave of our
arrows would strike fear even in the heart of the leviathan.
操弓试马 鼓角斜阳下
We check our bows and ready our horses. The drumbeats
linger into evening.

左良玉(粉蝶儿)

七尺昂藏 虎头燕颌如画 莽男儿走遍天涯
With my great height and military prowess, my mighty arm and my leonine
strength, I have ridden to the ends of the earth.
活骑人 飞食肉 风云叱咤
I have no match; even the clouds tremble at my roar.
报国恩 一腔热血挥洒
In order to repay the motherland for her favours, I stand ready to
spill my hot blood.

左良玉(石榴花)

你看中原豺虎乱如麻 都窥伺龙楼凤阙帝王家
The bandits are roaming the nation, their avaricious eyes fixed on the imperial palace.
正腾腾杀气 这军粮又早缺乏
And just as upheaval seizes the land, I find myself without provisions for my men.