楊果 Yang Guo

楊果（1195—1269），祁州蒲陰（今河北安國）人，字正卿，號西庵，是金代哀宗正大元年（1224年）的進(jìn)士。他在金代做過縣令一類低職官員。金亡國后，他繼續(xù)在元為官，晚年退休回鄉(xiāng)。他生性聰敏智慧，為人幽默戲謔，文章出眾，更擅長寫曲。他的曲作流傳至今的有散曲11首，套曲5套。

Yang Guo（1195-1269），known also as Zhengqing and Xi’an by his self-given names，was born in Puyin，Qizhou（what is now Anguo，Hebei Province）．He was selected Jinshi in 1224 in the Jin Dynasty and was thereafter given such lower positions as county magistrate．He continued his office when Jin was replaced by Yuan．He returned to his hometown upon retirement．A man of quick wit and joyous humor，he was reputed to be a good writer，particularly a composer of qu．His surviving works are 11 pieces of sanqu and 5 series of taoqu.

小桃紅·采蓮女

○楊果

滿城煙水月微茫^①，人倚蘭舟唱^②。常記相逢若耶上^③，隔三湘^④，碧云望斷空惆悵^⑤。美人笑道^⑥，蓮花相似，情短藕絲長^⑦。

【注釋】

1 煙水：水面霧氣升騰的景象。微茫：模模糊糊看不清楚。本句是說，在一個霧氣或是寒霜彌漫的夜晚，整個城鎮(zhèn)都被水汽籠罩，天空的月亮也看不太清楚了。

2 本句是說，河面的小船上有人在唱歌。蘭舟：木制小船，這里指采蓮女的采蓮船。倚：倚靠。

3 本句是采蓮女唱歌的內(nèi)容。女子唱道，經(jīng)常回憶起在若耶溪相逢的情形。若耶：溪水名，也寫作“若邪（yé）”，在今浙江省紹興市南若耶山下，相傳是古代越國美女西施浣紗的地方。其實，青年男女初次相會絕不可能都在若耶溪，但人們喜歡用西施的美麗身影來表達(dá)對初次相見的美好記憶。

4 三湘：有兩種比較流行的說法，一說認(rèn)為是湖南境內(nèi)的三條河流，即漓湘、蒸湘和瀟湘的合稱；另一說認(rèn)為是湖南境內(nèi)的三個地方，即湘鄉(xiāng)、湘潭和湘陰的合稱。無論怎樣解釋，這句意思都是說，歌者與心上人相隔遙遠(yuǎn)。

5 “碧云”一句借用了宋代范仲淹的名作《蘇幕遮》中的詞句和意境?！短K幕遮》開首為“碧云天，黃葉地”，寫秋高氣爽、藍(lán)天白云、滿地黃葉的秋景，其詞意是要表達(dá)離家在外的人對家鄉(xiāng)的無限思念。本曲此句正是借用《蘇幕遮》中所含的離愁別緒來表達(dá)采蓮女對心上人的無限思念之情。惆悵：無法釋懷、無法解脫的苦悶心情。

6 本曲基調(diào)是相思之愁，這里突然一個“美人笑道”，別出心裁。但這“笑”并非是快樂，而是為了引出下面“相思”與“藕絲”的有趣比喻。

7 蓮藕地下莖多孔、肥大，折斷時有無數(shù)細(xì)絲相連，因而人們常用“藕斷絲連”來比喻情人分手后情感難以割舍的情形?！敖z”與“思”、“短”與“斷”都是諧音雙關(guān)語?！扒槎膛航z長”即是說，人走，情斷，但相思不絕。

TUNE：RED PEACH BLOSSOMS

The Lotus Gatherer

The dimming moon o’er mist-veiled town and water looms.

The beauty in orchid boat sings her dream.

I oft remember our meeting on silk-washing stream.

Now severed by three rivers long，

In vain through clouds into the azure sky I gaze.

Smiling，the beauty says，

“Our hearts are like the lotus blooms：

Their root may snap，their fibers join like my song.”

【賞析】

楊果用〔小桃紅〕曲調(diào)寫了不少曲，多數(shù)是描寫男女愛情的，這首曲即是如此。在煙水迷茫的月色中，小船輕輕劃過水面，采蓮女在船上唱著憂傷的歌。歌詞內(nèi)容是什么呢？是采蓮女對愛情的回憶，對幸福的渴望。她曾經(jīng)在溪水上與心愛的人相逢。然而現(xiàn)實是殘酷的，斯人已去，不知現(xiàn)在何方，所以曲中說“隔三湘”。讀者大可不必拘泥于“三湘”是“三條河流”還是“三個地方”，反正是與情人相隔遙遠(yuǎn)，想看看不見，想去去不了。采蓮女唯一能做的就是向著天空遙望。然而，望斷天涯也無法讓心情平靜。想到這里，女子忽然覺得自己很好笑，因為她日日采摘蓮藕，那蓮藕肥碩白嫩，個個喜人，可是一旦折斷，卻絲絲連連，無法徹底分開。這不正是自己的寫照嗎？情人已走，遠(yuǎn)在天邊，難以相聚?？墒亲约旱男膮s依然牽掛，時時回味，難以忘懷?！敖z”與“思”同音諧意。自己天天采蓮，難怪要相思不斷了。這真是一個巧妙的偶合，也是一個絕妙的比喻。

這首曲的內(nèi)容平平淡淡，它之所以讓人特別喜歡，主要是體現(xiàn)在最后一句上。人們的相思恰與蓮藕相似，所以才有“藕斷絲連”的成語，而本曲又恰恰是采蓮女的歌，這比喻用在這里難道不是再貼切不過的嗎？

Interpretation

Like Yang Guo’s other verses under the same tune，this piece is about love．In the misty moonlight，a boat is adrift on the stream water and a lotus-seeds-collecting girl is singing a sad song，a song about her man and how they used to meet in their boats on the stream．But gone is the man，leaving no message about where he would go，and thus leaving her alone on the same spot recollecting their encounter and unrealistically expecting their reunion．In the verse，the phrase“隔三湘”（three streams beyond）is not to be taken literally; in the girl’s mind the distance between her and the man must be so long that she will never be able to cover．Her misfortune reminds her of the lotus root which，when broken into two sections，has fine fibers to still hold the two together，a situation that she believes she is presently in，that is，although she and her man are far away from each other，there is something that is still connecting them．And we know，of course，it is her longing for him that has attached her to him．And she cannot but start to sneer at herself，because it sounds so silly to constantly think of someone you may never again to see or have anything to do with．In the Chinese language，since“（藕）絲”（fiber [of the lotus root]）and“思”（one’s longing for somebody）are homophones，“絲”in the verse is a metaphor for such longing.

Content of the work is simple; it is loved chiefly for the use of“藕斷絲連”，a well-known Chinese idiom meaning that the relationship of some people（e.g．lovers）will never end although they are rendered apart．The idiom about lotus is so natural in the work because it is used to represent the experience and idea of the girl who yearly reaps lotus seeds and roots as her crops.