Lady Meng Jiang: The legend of the woman who outwitted an evil emperor - Juwen Zhang

翻译人员: enxi xie 校对人员: Marie Li

According to legend, an emperor long ago declared that he would build

相传，很久以前，一位皇帝下令修筑

a great wall spanning thousands of kilometers

一座绵延数千公里的长城，

to protect his new empire and ensure his sustained power.

以保卫疆土，巩固统治。

He ordered many men across China to leave their homes

他在中国各地征召无数壮丁， 令他们离开家园，

and submit to the grueling labor required for its construction.

投身于艰苦的建筑劳动。

As years passed and the wall grew, few returned home.

岁月流逝，城墙越修越高， 却鲜少有人得以返回家园。

Nestled in the foothills of a remote mountain,

在一座偏远的山脚下，

the Mengs and their neighbors, the Jiangs,

孟家与姜家互为邻居，

hadn’t yet had to worry about being drafted by the emperor’s soldiers.

并不担心会被衙役征召入伍。

One year, the Mengs grew gourds that flourished along their shared fence.

有一年，孟家种植了葫芦， 沿着两家共同的围栏蓬勃生长。

One particular gourd crossed the fence and extended into the Jiang’s yard,

一只葫芦穿过围栏， 伸进了姜家的院子，

so they cared for it.

于是两家共同照料它，

The gourd grew to be the biggest of all.

这个葫芦长成了最大的一只。

At harvest, the Mengs and the Jiangs decided to take equal halves.

秋后收获时，孟家与姜家 决定一家一半。

But as they went to split the gourd, something remarkable happened.

但当他们正准备劈开葫芦时， 奇怪的事情发生了。

It cracked open to reveal a beautiful baby curled inside,

葫芦裂开了， 里面蜷缩着一个漂亮的娃娃，

smiling up at them.

向他们微笑。

They agreed to raise her together

孟姜两家同意一起抚养她，

and named their magical, boundary-breaking daughter, Meng Jiang.

并给他们神奇、 超越边界的掌上明珠取名为孟姜。

She grew into a virtuous, accomplished young woman who infused life with joy.

岁月如梭，孟姜女出落成一位品德高尚、成就非凡的 女子，为平淡的生活注入了无数的欢声笑语。

She cared for her elderly parents and their land with dedication.

她全心全意地照顾年迈的父母， 料理田地。

But the surrounding world remained turbulent.

但是周遭的世界依然动荡不安。

One day, Meng Jiang stumbled upon a young man hiding in the garden.

一天，孟姜女偶然发现一位年轻公子藏在院里。

The emperor’s soldiers had come to conscript him into building the wall.

衙役征召他修建长城。

But he had an elderly mother to care for

但鉴于家里年迈的母亲需要照顾，

and knew that obeying the soldiers’ orders would mean almost certain death,

且服从徭役几乎是死路一条，

so he escaped.

他便逃了出来。

Meng Jiang and Fan Xiliang connected instantly,

孟姜女与范喜良 很快就建立了感情，

and soon enough, they married.

不久便喜结连理。

But their happiness wouldn’t last long.

但他们的幸福生活并不长久。

When the emperor’s soldiers descended the next time,

当官兵又一次降临，

they captured Fan Xiliang.

他们带走了范喜良。

For months, she watched the horizon,

数月以来，孟姜女一直遥望着地平线，

hoping the world would do right and deliver her love back to her safely.

希望一切顺利， 将爱人安全地带回她身边。

But he never came.

但他自此再也没有回来。

And as the air grew frigid, Meng Jiang’s worries only grew,

转眼冬天来了，天寒地冻， 孟姜女越发心事重重，

so she set out to find him herself.

于是她开始亲自寻找他。

Through bitter snow and howling winds, across rivers and mountains,

孟姜女穿越了大雪和呼啸的风，一路跋山涉水

she undertook the dangerous journey that many others had been forced to complete.

历尽千难万险， 走过了许多其他人被迫走完的路程。

Finally, she reached the construction site,

终于到达了长城脚下

where thousands of workers toiled, day and night,

成千上万的民夫在此日夜劳作，

to realize the emperor’s vision.

以实现皇帝的愿景。

Stealing into the fray, Meng Jiang whispered her husband’s name

孟姜女偷偷地向工人们打听丈夫的名字

to the workers until, eventually, one man’s eyes glimmered with recognition—

终于，一个男人的眼中闪现出认出来——

only for him to reveal the tragic news that Fan Xiliang had recently died.

但他却透露了范喜良最近去世的悲惨消息。

He was rumored to be buried under the wall alongside many others.

有传言说他与其他许多人一起被埋在墙下。

Heartbroken beyond words, Meng Jiang could only weep.

孟姜女伤心欲绝，却只能悲泣。

As her tears filled the construction halls,

她的眼泪洒满了长城的工地，

seeped into the cracks of the wall, and soaked its stone,

渗入墙壁的缝隙，浸湿了砖石，

whole portions crumbled and washed away in the flood of her grief.

整个城墙轰然倒塌， 被悲痛的洪流裹挟而去。

Livid, the emperor ordered that the person who’d sabotaged his grand project

皇帝勃然大怒， 下令将破坏他伟大工程的人抓起来，

be captured and brought to his palace for punishment.

带到宫中受罚。

But when he beheld the otherworldly beauty and virtue Meng Jiang radiated,

但当他看到孟姜女超凡脱俗的 美丽和散发的美德时，

his plan changed.

他改变了主意。

Leering at the devastated widow,

皇帝嘲笑这位饱受摧残的寡妇

the emperor instead suggested that she become one of his imperial concubines.

反而建议她成为自己的妃子。

She had few options, but she realized she could leverage the wretched proposal

孟姜女别无选择， 但她很快想到一个办法：

to honor Fan Xiliang and humiliate the emperor.

来纪念范喜良，羞辱皇帝。

She said she agreed—

她表示同意—

but only if the emperor gave her deceased husband a grand funeral

但前提是皇帝为她 已故的丈夫举行一场盛大的葬礼，

and that the emperor attend dressed in the traditional mourning attire

并且如果范喜良是自己的父亲一样，

he would wear had Fan Xiliang been his own father.

穿着传统的丧葬服装出席。

The emperor begrudgingly made the arrangements

皇帝勉强做出了安排，

and Meng Jiang bid her beloved farewell.

孟姜女向她亲爱的道别。

Finally, with her wish carried out, she refused to either submit to the emperor,

最后，她的愿望得以实现，她既 拒绝屈服于在宫殿里等着她的皇帝，

who now awaited her in his palace, or to face his punishment.

也拒绝面对他的惩罚。

Instead, she cast herself into the nearby water,

取而代之的是，她像自己的眼泪

as all-enveloping as her own tears, never to emerge again.

一样全身投向附近的水中， 再也没有浮出水面。

She had left an unjust world as mysteriously as she’d entered it.

她像进入这个世界 一样神秘地离开了一个不公正的世界。

But her tears flowed on, a reminder of her virtue and defiance.

但是她的眼泪不停地流了下来， 这让人想起了她的美德和蔑视。