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I have a poem by Li Bai in English translation, from an anthology called The Jade Flute.

The poem is titled Why Be Jealous, but another publication gives it the title Song of the River.

The poem reads:

MY LITTLE BOAT IS MADE OF EBONY; MY FLUTE-STOPS ARE PURE GOLD. 
WATER LOOSENS STAINS FROM SILK ... WINE LOOSENS SADNESS FROM THE HEART.
WITH GOOD WINE, A GRACEFUL BOAT, AND A SWEET GIRL’S LOVE ... WHY BE JEALOUS OF MERE GODS?

I'm trying to find the original Chinese. Googling on 李白 and various keywords hasn't turned up anything yet.

Can anyone help me locate the original poem?

河南宝宝
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1 Answers1

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very likely,

MY LITTLE BOAT IS MADE OF EBONY; MY FLUTE-STOPS ARE PURE GOLD.

is derived from the poem “江上吟” by 李白

木蘭之枻沙棠舟，玉簫金管坐兩頭。

https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/江上吟

the translation is, . . . “no-eye-see” lah, imo

edited, info added in lieu of comment

My dictionary says "妓" in "美酒樽中置千斛，载妓随波任去留。" is prostitute! Is that correct?

no, burn your dictionary now

the wiki has a page about “官妓”, which mentioned:

從職業技能上，又可分為聲妓、樂妓、舞妓等

貴族、士大夫家庭豢養的「家妓」

隋煬帝時，將各地樂人盡集於洛陽。此後，隋煬帝「乃大括魏、齊、周、陳樂人子弟，悉配太常，並於關中為坊置之」。這一系列制度變革構成了唐宋教坊官妓的雛形

“妓” are those who provide amusements in the past (singers, musicians & dancers); equivalent to entertainment industry (娛樂圈) personnel nowadays

when one read literatures of yore, find verses about officials have “妓” accompanied, it means these officials got some professionals to sing, play music & dance. it does not imply sexual services provided

美酒尊中置千斛，載妓隨波任去留

maybe:

a lakh litre of fine liquor in bottle; on board with entertainers, adrift freely

have fun :)

水巷孑蠻
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  • 水巷孑蠻: You are an expert in Old Chinese and I'm sure you are romantic. I am certain you could give us a much better translation. Will you try? My dictionary says "妓" in "美酒樽中置千斛，载妓随波任去留。" is prostitute! Is that correct? – Pedroski Jan 27 '24 at 09:06
  • It looks like it could be, at least the first part which mentions a boat and a flute made of jade and gold. And I see references to immortals, and a 妓 who I guess could be a beautiful maiden. But if so, it must be a very loose translation! – 河南宝宝 Jan 27 '24 at 09:07
  • Agree, 蝙蝠人, I don't think the translation is up to much! – Pedroski Jan 27 '24 at 09:10
  • I see The Jade Flute was published in 1960, back then they may not have been too worried that some native speaker was going to check their work! – 河南宝宝 Jan 27 '24 at 09:14
  • @Pedroski, i edited the answer, please reread, it’s too long as a comment – 水巷孑蠻 Jan 27 '24 at 10:19
  • @水巷孑蠻 I'm curious about "no-eye-see" lah. Is it dialect? English with Chinese Characteristics? Some combination? Anyway it doesn't sound like a positive evaluation! – 河南宝宝 Jan 28 '24 at 04:01
  • @Batperson Mr. Water might be a user of Southeast Asian English that has a mixture of a number of dialects or languages. As far as I know, Chinese ancient men of letters often visited brothels or had sexual relations with multiple women, so 妓 could not be like the word 技 to mean a type of skill and it must have been a sexual object. – NanningYouth Jan 28 '24 at 07:31
  • @NanningYouth I'm thinking brothels usually have some kind of "cover business", like pretending to offer massage, so when people hear "massage parlour" they have a particular idea even though massage is a genuine non-dodgy occupation. It may have been like this in the past: 妓 was probably a respectable occupation but because certain types of people called themselves 妓 it came to mean something different. Maybe 50 years from now "masseuse" will be like that and people who do actually perform massage will have to call themselves something different. – 河南宝宝 Jan 28 '24 at 07:40
  • “no-eye-see" seems like it could be meaningful in both English and Chinese at the same time. – 河南宝宝 Jan 28 '24 at 07:46
  • @Batperson, no-eye-see is derived from a cantonese term “冇眼睇” https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/no_eye_see#:~:text=Phrase,disinclined%20to%20continue%20caring%20about. – 水巷孑蠻 Jan 28 '24 at 10:23
  • @水巷孑蠻 Haha! Makes sense. – 河南宝宝 Jan 28 '24 at 18:51
  • @Batperson That makes sense and it has become a reality. Decent men in China now do not visit the parlours as you mention to avoid being misunderstood. Another interesting thing is the famous porn site Pornhub has become of a hot place where trade knowledge is taught and college students can exchange their academic ideas or learn from each other. – NanningYouth Jan 29 '24 at 02:31
  • @NanningYouth you seem to have access to some surprising sources of information! – 河南宝宝 Jan 29 '24 at 09:39
  • 一个可以用来考研学习的成人网站 这就是P站|163_手机网易网 https://m.163.com/dy/article/EU4S33QC0517JVLT.html If I did not give you a link here, you might have suspected I was a promoter of that site or a phone fraud caller based in the northern part of Myanmar, lol! – NanningYouth Jan 30 '24 at 02:30