李白：诗仙
Li Bai: The Poet Immortal
Page 1
月光变成了白霜
When Moonlight Became Frost
Li Bai looks at the moon with a writing brush in his hand.
在《静夜思》里，Lǐ Bái · 唐代诗人，以豪放的想象和月亮、旅行等题材闻名。看见月光照在地上，觉得它像一层白霜。他抬头望月，又想起了远方的家。
这几句很短，却让许多人记了一千多年。因为李白有一种特别的本领：别人看见一片月光，他却能在里面看见寒冷的霜、遥远的故乡，还有一个睡不着的人。
李白生活在很久以前。他从小喜欢读书，也喜欢剑和远方。长大以后，他没有一直留在一个地方，而是坐船、骑马、步行，去看更大的世界。
他走到哪里，诗就跟到哪里。
In Quiet Night Thought, Lǐ Bái · 李白 · A Tang poet known for bold imagination, moonlight, and travel. looked at moonlight on the ground and thought it looked like frost. He looked up at the moon, then thought of home far away.
The poem is short, but people have remembered it for more than a thousand years. Li Bai had a special gift: where someone else saw a patch of moonlight, he saw cold frost, a distant home, and a traveler who could not sleep.
Li Bai lived long ago. As a young man, he loved books, swords, and the thought of faraway places. When he grew older, he did not stay in one town. He traveled by boat, on horseback, and on foot to see more of the world.
Wherever Li Bai went, poems followed.
Page 2
银河从天上落下来
When the Milky Way Fell from the Sky
Mountains and waterfalls gave Li Bai plenty to write about.
有一次，李白站在庐山的一条瀑布前。庐山在中国南方，是一片有高峰、山谷、溪流和瀑布的山区。阳光照着水雾，瀑布从高高的山崖上轰隆隆地冲下来。
在《望庐山瀑布》里，他写道，水从三千尺高的地方直落下来，仿佛天上的银河掉进了人间。读到这里，你几乎会抬起头，听见水声，再感觉冰凉的水珠扑到脸上。
李白很会把眼前的景色写得又大又有生命。Huáng Hé · 流经中国北方、携带大量泥沙的大河。好像从天上奔来，月亮像一位陪他赶路的朋友，一条瀑布也能变成从星空落下的银河。
他看到的山河并不只停在纸上。它们会奔跑，会发亮，还会大声唱歌。
Once, Li Bai stood before a waterfall on Mount Lu. Mount Lu is a mountain area in southern China, filled with peaks, valleys, streams, and waterfalls. Sunlight shone through the mist as white water thundered over the high cliff.
In Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu, he wrote that the water plunged three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way had fallen from the sky. You can almost hear the crash, tip your head back, and feel the cold spray on your face.
Li Bai knew how to make nature feel huge and alive. The Huáng Hé · 黄河 · The great northern Chinese river known for carrying large amounts of silt. seemed to rush down from the sky. The moon became a friend beside him on the road. A waterfall became a river tumbling out of the stars.
In his poems, mountains, rivers, and moonlight did not sit still. They rushed, flashed, and sang.
Page 3
诗人走进皇宫
The Poet Entered the Palace
Li Bai once wrote for the emperor at the palace, but he did not stay long.
李白四十多岁的时候，他的诗已经非常有名，连Táng cháo · 618年至907年的中国朝代。的皇帝也读过。皇帝把他请到都城Cháng'ān · 中国古代都城，位置在今天的西安。，让他在皇宫里写诗和文章。
李白非常高兴。他一直希望自己不只会写诗，还能帮助国家处理重要的事情。可是，皇帝喜欢的是他的诗才，并没有把重要的工作交给他。
皇宫很华丽，却不是李白盼望的地方。大约两年以后，他离开长安，又回到了山川、朋友和旅途之中。
李白曾经走进皇宫，却是在离开以后，写出了更多让人记住的诗。
By the time Li Bai was in his forties, his poems were famous. Even the emperor of the Táng cháo · 唐朝 · The Chinese dynasty that lasted from 618 to 907. had read them. The emperor invited Li Bai to the capital city and gave him a place among the palace writers.
Li Bai was thrilled. He hoped the emperor would let him help with important matters. But the emperor mostly wanted his poems and beautiful words, not his advice.
The palace was grand, but the work was not what Li Bai had hoped for. After about two years, he left the capital and returned to mountains, friends, and the open road.
Li Bai had made it inside the palace. Yet many of the poems people remember came from the life he lived beyond its gates.
Page 4
小船飞过万重山
A Light Boat Raced Down the River
李白五十多岁的时候，一场大战爆发了。唐朝的皇帝逃离了都城，几位王爷也为了权力互相争斗。李白加入了其中一位王爷的队伍，可那位王爷很快失败了。
李白因此被关进监牢，后来又被罚到很远的地方去。可是，他还没有走到终点，朝廷就宣布赦免，让包括李白在内的一些犯人恢复自由。
重获自由以后，李白坐船顺着Cháng Jiāng · 中国最长的河流。而下。在《早发白帝城》里，他写小船飞快地穿过一座又一座高山。两岸的猿猴还在啼叫，轻快的小船已经越过了万重山。
这首诗读起来又快又轻，像一艘终于不用回头的小船。
When Li Bai was in his fifties, a great war broke out. The Tang emperor fled the capital, and princes in the royal family fought for power. Li Bai joined one prince's group, but that prince soon lost.
Li Bai was put in prison. Then he was ordered to travel to a faraway place as punishment. Before he reached it, the government announced a pardon—an order that allowed some prisoners, including Li Bai, to go free.
After his pardon, Li Bai traveled down the Cháng Jiāng · 长江 · China's longest river. by boat. In Leaving Baidi City in the Morning, he wrote of a light boat racing past mountain after mountain. Monkeys were still calling from both riverbanks, and already the boat had swept past ten thousand peaks.
The poem feels quick and light, like a boat that is finally free to fly.
一千年后，人们还在读李白
More Than a Thousand Years Later
李白在公元762年去世。今天，大约有一千首被认为是他写的诗保存了下来。他和Dù Fǔ · 唐代诗人，许多诗记录了战乱和普通人的生活。常常被人们称为唐朝最伟大的两位诗人。
人们还送给李白一个称号：“诗仙”。这不是说他真的会法术，而是因为他的想象力好像没有边界。瀑布可以落自银河，黄河可以奔下天空，月亮也能陪着一个想家的人。
一千多年以后，许多中国孩子仍然会背《静夜思》。他们也会读《望庐山瀑布》和《早发白帝城》，跟着李白一起望月、看水、坐船穿过高山。
李白的时代已经很遥远了，可他的诗仍然能让人重新看见月亮、山和河。
Li Bai died in 762. About one thousand of his poems have survived. He and Dù Fǔ · 杜甫 · A Tang poet whose work records war, hardship, family, and everyday life. are often remembered as the two greatest poets of the Tang dynasty.
People gave Li Bai a nickname: the Poet Immortal. It does not mean that he had magic powers. It means that his imagination seemed to have no limits. A waterfall could fall from the Milky Way. The Yellow River could pour out of the sky. The moon could keep a lonely traveler company.
More than a thousand years later, many children in China still learn Quiet Night Thought. They also read Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu and Leaving Baidi City in the Morning, following Li Bai as he watches the moon, stands before rushing water, and sails between high mountains.
Li Bai's world is long gone, but his poems still help people see the moon, mountains, and rivers with fresh eyes.