这几天我跟朋友们一直在聊“重阳节”。今天就向大家介绍一首跟这个节日有关的诗，《九月九日忆山东兄弟》，出自唐代诗人王维。
The first two lines have been widely read and quoted through the ages. It means that when you live in a foreign land, like it or not, you’ll still feel like a foreigner and you’ll always miss your homeland, culture, friends, and family. And I think these words show the mind of a sensitive young man and describe the true feelings of many travellers around the world.
本诗前两句为千古名句，广为传诵。这两句诗的意思是，身处异国他乡时，不管你愿意与否，你始终觉得自己是个异乡人，而且总会思念故土，会怀念自己背后的文化，也会想念亲友。而且我也觉得，字字都展现了一个年轻人细腻敏感的内心，描述了世间千万游子真实的感受。
Thinking of My Brothers on Mountain-Climbing Day
By Wang Wei
Translation by Xu Yuanchong
Alone, a lonely stranger in a foreign land,
I doubly pine for kinsfolk on a holiday.
I know my brothers would, with dogwood spray in hand,
Climb the mountain and think of me so far away.
The first four characters in the title doesn’t mean September 9th in a certain year of the solar calendar. In Ancient China, people used the lunar calendar to mark time. According to The Book of Changes, yin stands for negativity and darkness, and yang stands for positivity and light. The number nine is considered as yang, so the ninth day in the ninth lunar month is a doubleyang date. That’s why this festival is called “The Double Ninth Festival” or “Chóng Yáng Festival” (Chong means “double; to repeat” in Chinese).
题目中前四个字“九月九日”，并非我们常用的阳历9月9号。在中国古代，人们采用阴历来记录时间。据《易经》记载，“阴”代表消极和黑暗的一方，而“阳”代表积极和光明的一方。“九”这个数字被视为“阳”数，所以阴历第九个月的第九日则被视为双阳之日。这个节日也就因此得名“重九节”或“重阳节”（“重”在汉语中取“双”、“重复”之意）。
Since the Warring States Period (475–221 BC), people have been celebrating this festival by climbing up mountains and enjoying chrysanthemum flower wine and double-ninth cakes. In this poem, Wang Wei mentioned a plant called dogwood, which was commonly used on this day. In Ancient China, people believed that wearing this plant on their clothes would keep away bad luck and diseases.
自战国时代起，人们就有了过重阳节的传统，登高望远、饮菊花酒和吃重阳糕等都已是节日习俗。本诗中，王维提到了一种名为“茱萸”的植物，通常在重阳节会用到。在中国古代，人们认为佩戴茱萸有辟邪驱病之功效。
This poem reminds me of “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost. He is a famous American poet and he is very good at writing about human emotions, such as loneliness and homesickness.
这首诗让我想起了那首著名的《未选择的路》，作者是美国著名诗人罗伯特·弗罗斯特。他善于用诗歌来展现人的孤独和思乡等情感活动。
(excerpt)
The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
As someone who has taken “the road less travelled” in moving to a new country, I can relate to the loneliness felt by the traveler in the first poem. For me, one of the biggest struggles, of moving from London to Beijing, has been adjusting to the silence of my new apartment versus living in my family home. I know it’s not easy to start a new life in Beijing , but hopefully I’ll settle in as soon as possible.
作为一个移居他乡的人，我也走上了“人迹更少的那条路”，我也体会到了第一首诗中，那个孤寂的游子内心的感受。对我而言，面临的众多难题之一，便是从伦敦只身来到北京，要去适应离家后，住进新公寓所感受到的那种孤寂，我知道在北京开启新生活并非易事，希望自己会尽快适应。
That’s all for this episode of Classic Reading. Let us know what you do for the Double Ninth Festival in the comment section below. Thank you for watching and we’ll see you next time.