梅堯臣 來夢 translation: A Dream Comes, by Mei Yaochen

This is a very rough annotation / translation of the poem 來夢 (Lái Mèng), ‘A Dream Comes’, by the Song Dynasty Chinese poet 梅堯臣 (Méi Yáochén).

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來夢 Lái Mèng [come] [dream] A Dream Comes

忽來夢我， Hū lái mèng wǒ, [suddenly] [come] [dream] [me] Suddenly coming to me in a dream,

於水之左， yú shuǐ zhī zuǒ, [at] [water] ['s] [left] to the left of the water;

不語而坐。 bù yǔ ér zuò. [not] [speak] [and] [sit] we sit silently.

忽來夢余， Hū lái mèng yú, [suddenly] [come] [dream] [me] Suddenly coming to me in a dream,

於山之隅， yú shān zhī yú, [at] [mountain] ['s] [corner] at the edge of the mountains;

不語而居。 bù yǔ ér jū. [not] [speak] [and] [stay] staying silently.

水果水乎， Shuǐ guǒ shuǐ hū, [water] [really] [water] [?] Is the water really water? -

不見其逝。 bùjiàn qí shì. [not] [see] [her] [pass] I didn't see her slip away.

山果山乎， Shān guǒ shān hū, [mountain] [really] [mountain] [?] Are the mountains really mountains?

不見其途。 bùjiàn qí tú. [not] [see] [her] [road] I do not see her path.

爾果爾乎， Ěr guǒ ěr hū, [you] [really] [you] [?] Are you really you?

不見其徂。 bùjiàn qí cú. [not] [see] [her] [go] I didn't see her go.

覺而無物， Jué ér wúwù, [wake] [and] [not have] [thing] I wake and there is nothing;

泣涕漣如， qì tì lián rú, [sob] [tears] [flood] [like] my tears are like a flood;

是歟非歟。 shì yú fēi yú. [true] [?] [false] [?] was it real or not?

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