✕
Chinese
Original lyrics
弱水三千
轮回百转
只求陪你续前缘
一曲悠悠 弦断邂逅的古街
爱的桥段叫我怎么写
梨花飘落在你窗前
画中伊人在闺中怨
谁把思念轻描淡写
只想留驻时间为你穿越
我停步白墙青瓦的屋檐
等你撑伞走过我身边
古镇上谁家的炊烟
在为我们酝酿当年的月圆
一双鸳鸯 戏在雨中那水面
就像思念苦里透着甜
我不问弱水三千几人能为我怨
轮回百转
只求陪你续前缘
一曲悠悠 弦断邂逅的古街
爱的桥段叫我怎么写
那弱水三千若能把那今生湮灭
前世亏欠
我愿等来生再还
一双鸳鸯 戏在雨中那水面
就像思念苦里透着甜
我不问弱水三千几人能为我怨
轮回百转
只求陪你续前缘
Submitted by 
XingYun235 on 2024-12-01
XingYun235 on 2024-12-01English
Translation
One Sip From The Sea Of Love
Through 100 samsara (1)
I only request to accompany you and continue our fated love,
A leisurely song, the thread has been cut (2) on that old street where we met by chance,
Tell me how to write this love story
Pear blossoms flutter and fall before your window,
Within the painting, the woman laments in her boudoir
Who mentions this deep longing merely in passing?
I only want to the march of time to cease so I can cut across it for you,
My steps come to a stop beneath the white walls and eaves of azure tiles,
Waiting for you to open the umbrella and walk over to my side.
From whose house is chimney smoke rising over the village,
Brewing the full moon of those years for us?
A pair of mandarin ducks (3) playing on the water's surface in the rain,
Just like the sweetness that pierces through the bitterness of longing
I won't ask you about that sip from the sea of love (4), how many people can resent me for this?
Through 100 samsara
I just request to accompany you and continue our predestined love
A leisurely song, the thread has been cut on that old street where we met by chance,
Tell me how to write this love story.
If that sip from the sea of love can annihilate this life
Then those debts from our previous life,
I'm willing to wait until our next life to be repaid
A pair of mandarin ducks playing on the water's surface in the rain,
Just like the sweetness that pierces through the bitterness of longing.
I won't ask you about that sip from the sea of love, how many people can resent me for this?
Through 100 samsara,
I just request to accompany you and continue our fated love.
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Comments
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About translator
Notes:
1: Samsara refers to the cycle of life, death and rebirth
2: the thread in question is the red thread of fate, a symbol of love (similar to the concept of star-crossed lovers)
3. Mandarin ducks are symbols of love and fidelity in China because they mate for life. The pair of ducks in the song represent the two lovers
4. Sip from the Sea of Love - This was very hard to translate so let me explain a bit.
The song only includes the first half of a metaphor from the famous Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber/Story of the Stone. Essentially the full phrase's meaning is even if there are 3 thousand little bodies of water I'd only take one sip. It is a metaphor for love (even if there are many people in this world I would only choose you). Given the complexity of this phrase/metaphor it was hard to faithfully translate. I chose to go with sip from the sea of love. I felt like it needed to include something of love given English does not have the cultural or literary background for it to make sense otherwise. I also decided to use the term sea as opposed to river or stream. I felt these terms in English lacked the sense of expansiveness present in the original. Would like to hear your thoughts on my translation of this phrase if you have any~~