Original text:
Let's talk about it?
Crossing the watershed
Wen tingjun
Wentingjun decoction
Xu Shuǐwúqíng sìyǐu qíng，
The stream is ruthless and seems to be affectionate.
Luo Xianzong.
You will travel in the mountains for three days together.
lüng tóu biàn shìfón tóu chü，
The ridge is truly,
Hello, hello.
I don't want to whisper all night.
Translation:
The stream is ruthless but seems to have affection for me. It can stay with me in the mountains for three days.
Climbing to the top of the mountain is where we parted, whispering for a night to say goodbye to me.
Appreciate:
Turning ruthlessness into sentience is often an artistic means to make ordinary things full of poetic beauty. This little poem of Wen illustrates this point well.
The watershed written in the poem is the only place between Qin Shu and Qin Liang, and it is a famous traffic artery in the Tang Dynasty, so it is generally called the watershed rather than the location. The title "Crossing the Watershed" actually describes a relationship with the stream in the journey across the watershed, and the poetic meaning caused by it.