原文:
Last night one of my Chinese friends took me to a concert of Chinese folk music. The piece which was played on the erhu especially moved me. The music was strangely beautiful, but under the beauty I sensed a strong sadness and pain. The piece had a simple name, Erquan Yingyue (Moon Reflected on Second Spring), but it was one of the most moving pieces of music that I’ve ever heard. The erhu sounded so sad that I almost cried along with it as I listened. Later I looked up the history of Erquan Yingyue, and I began to understand the sadness in the music.
The music was written by Abing, a folk musician who was born in the city of Wuxi in 1893. His mother died when he was very young. Abing’s father taught him to play many musical instiuments, such as the drums, dizi and erhu, and by age 17, Abing was known for his musical ability. However, after his father died, Abing’s life grew worse. He was very poor. Not only that, he developed a serious illness and became blind. For several years, he had no home. He lived on the streets and played music to make money. Even after Abing got married and had a home again, he continued to sing and play on the streets. He performed in this way for many years.
Abing’s amazing musical skills made him very popular during his lifetime. By the end of his life, he could play over 600 pieces of music. Many of these were written by Abing himself. It is a pity that only six pieces of music in total were recorded for the future world to hear, but his popularity continues to this day. Today, Abing’s Erquan Yomgyue is a piece which all the great erhu masters play and praise. It has become one of China’s national treasures. Its sad beauty not only paints a picture of Abing’s own life but also makes people recall their deepest wounds from their own sad or painful experiences.
译文:
昨晚,我的一个中国朋友带我去听了一场中国民间音乐的音乐会。那首用二胡演奏的乐曲尤其使我感动。那首乐曲美不可言,但是在这优美之下我感觉到了强烈的悲伤和痛苦。那首乐曲有一个简单的名字《二泉映月》,但它却是我听过的最感人的乐曲之一。我后来查了《二泉映月》的历史,我开始理解音乐中的悲伤了。
这首乐曲是阿炳写的,他是一位1893年出生在无锡城的的民间音乐家。当他很小的时候他的妈妈就去世了。阿炳的爸爸教他演奏许多乐器,比如鼓、笛子和二胡,在17岁
时,阿炳因他的音乐才能而出名。然而,他的爸爸去世之后,阿炳的生活更糟糕了。 他非常穷。不仅如此,他还得了一种严重的疾病并且失明了。几年了,他都没有家。 他住在街上,靠演奏音乐赚钱。甚至在阿炳结婚并且又有了一个家后,他还是继续在街道上唱歌演奏。他用这种方式表演了许多年。
阿炳惊人的音乐技能使他在一生中都非常受欢迎。到他生命结束时,他可以演奏六百多首乐曲。其中许多都是阿炳自己创作的。遗憾的是,一共只有六首曲子被录了下来得以传世,但时至今日,他阿炳依旧颇受欢迎。如今,阿炳的《二泉映月》是一首所有伟大的二胡大师们演奏和赞扬的乐曲。它成为了中国的国宝之一。它的凄美不仅反映了阿炳自己的生活,而且也让人们从他们自己的悲伤或痛苦的经历中回想起了他们最深的创伤。