鯤鵬展翅
*screams in frustration* WHY. WHY are my DVDs so lousy wryyyyyyyy
Anyway lousy as they are here are some caps of the recitation in episode 26. Gou Jian looks fabulous. 8D
Also a random cap of Fan Li looking adorably fresh-faced in full armour, from one of the earlier episodes:
Also translation of the poem, Chinese text here, originally posted here. Re-posted instead of linked because I need to fix a missing full-stop. >_>
EDIT: 英明 as a term means wise, so changed the relevant lines to reflect that.
O shame
O sinner.
One regrets
A once-held ambition;
One regrets
A life not worth living.
O great bears seen in dreams1,
They ford crashing torrents.
O Great Yu2 who yet lives,
He walks the four corners of the world.
O merciful and compassionate King,
Yours is the strength that delivers us from evil.
I should not have lived:
Great fish leap to soar as roc3; what then a swallow's4 wheeling flight.
I should not have lived:
Great kings light the realm in wisdom and majesty, banishing fiends that infest ancestral shrines.
I should be wandering dark places beneath the earth.
I should be singing deep within the grave.
But no; I must not die.
In death
I cannot know the rebirth of heavens' grace;
In death
I cannot witness the majesty of these mountains;
In death
I cannot see the High King vanquish the world;
In death
I cannot see the High King's brilliant reign.
O wise and majestic King,
In your chariot drawn by shining horses,
In your silver armour and golden shield,
You churn a thousand leagues of mighty winds,
Ten thousand leagues of swirling dust.
You are arrived from the furthest East,
Descended from the highest Heavens.
The Emperor Yao sings in praise,
The Emperor Shun5 sings in honour.
O wise and majestic King,
You are dominion of all the realm,
The power of mercy and compassion.
You are the embodiment of heavens' grace,
The sweet dew that nourishes the earth.
Like waves I dash the sacred mountain's rocky peaks,
I watch the mighty ocean's frothing waves.
*"Gou Jian" flattened to "I" because addressing onself in third person has an unfortunate Elmo's Song feel to it in English.
1according to zdic: 夢熊羆 = 夢熊 = dream of bears = symbolises begetting of male descendants; 羆 refers to either brown bear or mythical beast with no equivalent in English (in the same way 鹏 refers to a mythical bird with no equivalent in English)
2大禹 Yu the Great, legendary founder of the Xia dynasty
3鲲鹏: 鲲 is a large mythical fish which turns into a 鹏 a large mythical bird; symbolises someone moving up in the world
4燕雀 lit. swallows and sparrows, meaning insignificant persons of low aspiration
5Emperors Yao and Shun are legendary wise kings
Anyway lousy as they are here are some caps of the recitation in episode 26. Gou Jian looks fabulous. 8D
Also a random cap of Fan Li looking adorably fresh-faced in full armour, from one of the earlier episodes:
Also translation of the poem, Chinese text here, originally posted here. Re-posted instead of linked because I need to fix a missing full-stop. >_>
EDIT: 英明 as a term means wise, so changed the relevant lines to reflect that.
O shame
O sinner.
One regrets
A once-held ambition;
One regrets
A life not worth living.
O great bears seen in dreams1,
They ford crashing torrents.
O Great Yu2 who yet lives,
He walks the four corners of the world.
O merciful and compassionate King,
Yours is the strength that delivers us from evil.
I should not have lived:
Great fish leap to soar as roc3; what then a swallow's4 wheeling flight.
I should not have lived:
Great kings light the realm in wisdom and majesty, banishing fiends that infest ancestral shrines.
I should be wandering dark places beneath the earth.
I should be singing deep within the grave.
But no; I must not die.
In death
I cannot know the rebirth of heavens' grace;
In death
I cannot witness the majesty of these mountains;
In death
I cannot see the High King vanquish the world;
In death
I cannot see the High King's brilliant reign.
O wise and majestic King,
In your chariot drawn by shining horses,
In your silver armour and golden shield,
You churn a thousand leagues of mighty winds,
Ten thousand leagues of swirling dust.
You are arrived from the furthest East,
Descended from the highest Heavens.
The Emperor Yao sings in praise,
The Emperor Shun5 sings in honour.
O wise and majestic King,
You are dominion of all the realm,
The power of mercy and compassion.
You are the embodiment of heavens' grace,
The sweet dew that nourishes the earth.
Like waves I dash the sacred mountain's rocky peaks,
I watch the mighty ocean's frothing waves.
*"Gou Jian" flattened to "I" because addressing onself in third person has an unfortunate Elmo's Song feel to it in English.
1according to zdic: 夢熊羆 = 夢熊 = dream of bears = symbolises begetting of male descendants; 羆 refers to either brown bear or mythical beast with no equivalent in English (in the same way 鹏 refers to a mythical bird with no equivalent in English)
2大禹 Yu the Great, legendary founder of the Xia dynasty
3鲲鹏: 鲲 is a large mythical fish which turns into a 鹏 a large mythical bird; symbolises someone moving up in the world
4燕雀 lit. swallows and sparrows, meaning insignificant persons of low aspiration
5Emperors Yao and Shun are legendary wise kings