Tang Spirit Network

Ballad of Zhang Hao Hao


Noble and carefree
When I first saw her
A pretty local maiden of 
Thirteen years plus a few months
She was like a young Phoenix
About to sprout its tail
Or a fresh bud emergent
From the comely Lotus

In a pavilion high
On the banks of the Zhang
That reached half-way to heaven
Just where the river blends  
Into the green horizon
She had come to sing before
Assembled magistrates
Who were stretched out 
On their fine straw mats

As the host attended
To his recumbent guests
We were astounded to hear 
The first quavering notes
That issued forth from this
Child of Wu
So sweetly she sang
An ethereal verse
I must sing her praises
Modest yet shining still
In her low draped gown

Her hair coiled in buns
Double stacked
Her youthful beauty
Transparent in a gauzy
Short coat with sleeves
That hung low
Her voice was full
Of longing
As pure as the cry
Of a baby Phoenix

A string accompaniment
Played intermittently
Keeping the beat while
The melody also issued forth
From the woodwinds
With quivering reeds
But her voice soared above
All this background music
You could hear it clearly
As birdlike it ascended
Into the clouds above

The host sighed deeply
Over and over again
At a loss for words
As her song sounded different
From all else under Heaven
And the girl was showered
With presents such as
A brocade embroidered
With a winged horse
And a priceless Rhino pin

Thereafter at Long Sha park
We watched autumn take hold
And the bright moon rising
Over East Lake
We saw each other
Very frequently
If three days
Went by without
It seemed quite a long time

And as a jade crescent
Is followed by
The full moon
So my delight in her soon
Reached full bloom
Full of springtime
And leisure
Her lips were purple red
Graceful light and easy
She conveyed herself forward
As if treading the clouds
Modest and gentle still

But then her musical troop
Suddenly decamped by boat
Following her master’s
Appointment up north
Where frost covered the trees
By Xie Tiao’s mansion
Until the sun returned
To warm the sands and flowers
Along the banks of Gou Creek 

So it goes that all bodies  
Are consigned to the dust
Which means we might as well
Hoist the bottle high
And drink merrily
Just as this band of minstrels
Apparently did
Carrying on with
Their Fu ballads
In the grandest manner
Of Sima Xiangru
With a jade brooch pinned
To the girdle and
Borne aloft on a litter
Of purple clouds


Yet deep in time’s cave
The distant waters drip
And the shadows scuttle
Along the moon’s high surface 
And so it was a few years later
After the drunken revelers had
All completely dispersed
That I next saw her
Back in Lo Yang
Where she was working
As a cook for a spell
At an Inn in the city
And she looked quite unwell

It was strange
What she said to me --
She said she wondered
What hardships
Had befallen me
To make one
So young in years
Prematurely shaggy
And gray

But really it was
My dear friend
Zhang Hao Hao
Who now seemed
To be firmly held in
Hardship’s grip 
Down and out lower
Than seemed possible

She sat on a stoop
In the doorway
Bitterly weeping
While clouds and cold waters
Of autumn brought on
A sudden deep chill
And the sunlight slanted
Across the western sky
For a moment daylight itself
Seemed suspended
Like a graceful willow
A cool wind raked the block
And Zhang Hao Hao sat on the curb
Her face streaming with tears
Singing the saddest ballad
I had ever heard





 

张好好诗

君为豫章姝，十三才有馀。
 
翠茁凤生尾，丹叶莲含跗。







高阁倚天半，章江联碧虚。

此地试君唱，特使华筵铺。







主人顾四座，始讶来踟蹰。

吴娃起引赞，低徊映长裾。









双鬟可高下，才过青罗襦。

盼盼乍垂袖，一声雏凤呼。







繁弦迸关纽，塞管裂圆芦。

众音不能逐，袅袅穿云衢。








主人再三叹，谓言天下殊。

赠之天马锦，副以水犀梳。









龙沙看秋浪，明月游朱湖。

自此每相见，三日已为疏。








玉质随月满，艳态逐春舒。

绛唇渐轻巧，云步转虚徐。









旌旆忽东下，笙歌随舳舻。

霜凋谢楼树，沙暖句溪蒲。







身外任尘土，樽前极欢娱。

飘然集仙客，讽赋欺相如。

聘之碧瑶珮，载以紫云车。












洞闭水声远，月高蟾影孤。

尔来未几岁，散尽高阳徒。

洛城重相见，婥婥为当垆。










怪我苦何事，少年垂白须。

朋游今在否，落拓更能无。








门馆恸哭后，水云秋景初。

斜日挂衰柳，凉风生座隅。

洒尽满襟泪，短歌聊一书。