Moon & Rusalka

中秋節 of 2009 falls on October 3. The temperature hovered around 60 degree on the day & I haven’t seen the moon so bright, so round & so shining for some time. I checked the luner calendar, it said 已丑中秋節. I don’t know how many people still use or follow 天干地支 counting in China. It takes 60 years to reach a cycle & restart. So when someone says 一甲子, he means 60 years. I have no idea why our ancesters used this system. Perhaps people at that time in average only lived to 60 years of age. Otherwise it will be confusing when some one say 甲午年. It may be 1894 or 1834. Think about it, we are all over 60 years old. How about 壬午年, it may be 1942 or 2002. As a matter of fact, our history book lists all these terms: 戊戌政變, 甲午战争, 辛亥革命, 庚子賠款 etc. It is nice to know that the events occur in that year. But the problem is that you really don’t know how it relates to 公元 or how many years between those events. You have to do some conversion or cross reference. I do have an algorithm that converts BC or AD to 天干地支. It is as follows:

十 天干：甲乙丙丁戊已庚辛壬癸 (index 0-9)
十二 地支: 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥 (index 0-11)

For AD, use (Year –4) & the following calculation:
(1972 - 4) mod (10) ≡ 8，所以天干是“壬”；
(1972 - 4) mod (12) ≡ 0，所以地支是“子”。
So 1972 is (8,0) 壬子
Same conversion leads 1942: 壬午

For year from 1 to 4, it is:
4: 甲子
3: 癸亥
2: 壬戌
1: 辛酉

For BC, it is more complicate & I will reserve this for some other time. Let’s get back to a soft side of our life. Moon to most of us is romantic. It shines on us, no talking, no complain, no excuse. No wonder some poet like 李白 & others ran the imagination to the wild. Here are some examples:

暮從碧山下, 山月隨人歸.
举杯邀明月, 对影成三人.
我歌月俳佪, 我舞影零乱.
暫伴月將影, 行樂須及春.
星隨平野闊, 月湧大江流.
霧溼樓台, 月迷津渡.
明月如霜, 好風如水.
明月幾時有, 把酒问青天.
沙上珏禽池上暝, 雲破月來花弄影.
海上生明月, 天涯共此時.
露從今月白,月是故鄉明.
明月松間照,清泉石上流.
深林人不知,明月來相照.
月落烏啼箱霜滿天

But the most famous & appropriate to 中秋節 is:
人有悲欢離合, 月有陰晴圓缺, 此事古難全.
但願人長久, 千里共嬋娟.

梁弘志 wrote a song “但願人長久”using 苏東坡 的水調歌頭 as the lyrics. It becomes very popular since 1980’s. On the western front, Dvorak composed “Song to the Moon” in opera Rusalka. It is one of the most well-known song dedicated to the moon. 歌 詞 傷 感, 期 待 而 無 耐, 冷 艶 而 淒 婉. 最 後 一 句 是 近 乎 绝 望 的 呼 喊. Rusalka is a water sprite, who seeks love with human beings that proves to be tragic. Here is the lyric in Czech & its verbatim translation: (* is repeated verse)

Mesiku na nebi hlubokem--------------O moon up in the deep sky
Svetlo tvé daleko vidi,------------------Your light sees distant places
Po svete bloudis sirokém, --------------You travel round the wide world
Divas se v pribytky lidi. ----------------You look into people’s houses
--------------------------------------*You travel round the wide world
--------------------------------------*You look into people’s houses

Mesicku, postuj chvili------------------ O, moon, stay for a moment
Reckni mi, kde je muj mily------------- Tell me where is my love!
----------------------------------------*O, moon, stay for a moment
-------------------------------------*Tell me, oh, tell me where is my love!

Rekni mu, stribmy mesicku, --Tell him please, silver moon in the sky,
Me ze jej objima rame, -----------------That I embrace him,
Aby si alespon chvilicku----------That he should for at least a while …
Vzpomenul ve sneni na mne ------------… remember his dreams!
-----------------------------------*That he should for at least a while …
--------------------------------------*… remember his dreams!

Zasvet mu do daleka -------------------Light up his distant place,
Rekni mu, rekni m kdo tu nan ceka!---Tell him, who waits here!
----------------------------------------*Light up his distant place,
------------------------------------*Tell him, oh, tell him who waits here!

mneli duse lidska sni -------------------If he dreams of me, …
At'se tou vzpominkou vzbudi! ----------… may this memory waken him!
Mesicku, nezhasni, nezhasni!---O, moon, don’t disappear, don’t go!

Here we found some striking similarity between eastern & western version that shows human feeling is universal. If we look at the first stanza of the song, it is 轉 朱 閣, 低 綺 户, 照 無 眠. The second & third stanzas are sort of like 不 應 有 恨, 何 事 偏 向 別 時 圓.. The fourth stanza is 人 有 悲 欢 離 合, 月 有 陰 晴 圓 缺, 此 事 古 難 全. The last stanza is equivalent to 但 願 人 長 久, 千 里 共 嬋 娟..

The following video clip is Rusalka performed by Lucia Popp, a Slovak soprano. She is ideal for singing Czech opera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qxi-sYUT9s

PS:
Dvorak (1841-1904) is a Czech composer. His most famous works are Symphony from the New World, Cello Concerto, “American” String Quartet & Slavonic Dances.