The Sichuan Road 
蜀道難
 libai
李白

What heights!

It is easier to climb Heaven

Than take the Sichuan Road.
噫吁戲，危乎高哉!蜀道之難難于上青天。

Long ago Can Cong and Yu Fu founded the kingdom of Shu;
蠶叢及魚鳧，開國何茫然。

Forty-eight thousand years went by,

Yet no road linked it with the land of Qin.
爾來四萬八千歲，不與秦塞通人煙。

Westward from Taibai Mountain only birds

Wander to the summit of Mount Emei
西當太白有鳥道，可以橫絕峨眉巔。

But not until brave men had perished in the great landslide

Were bridges hooked together in the air

And a path hacked through the rocks.
地崩山摧壯士死，然后天梯石棧相勾連。

Above, high peaks turn back the sun's chariot drawn by six dragons;

Below, the charging waves are caught in whirlpools;
上有六龍回日之高標，下有沖波逆折之回川。

Not even yellow cranes dare fly this way,

Monkeys cannot leap those gorges.
黃鶴之飛尚不得，猿猱欲度愁攀援。

At Green Mud Ridge the path winds back and forh,

With nine twists for every hundred steps.
青泥何盤盤，百步九折縈巖巒。

Touching the stars, the traveller looks up and gasps,

Then sinks down , clutching his heart ,to groan aloud.
捫參歷井仰脅息，以手撫膺坐長嘆!

Friend, when will you return from this westward journey?

This is a fearful way.

You cannot cross these cliffs.
問君西游何時還?畏途巉巖不可攀。

The only living things are birds crying in ancient trees,

Male wooing female up and down the woods,
但見悲鳥號古木，雄飛雌從繞林間。

And the cuckoo, weary of empty hills,

Singing to the moon.
又聞子規啼夜月，愁空山。

It is easier to climb to heaven

Than take the Sichuan Road.

The mere telling of its perils blanches youthful cheeks.
蜀道之難難于上青天，使人聽此凋朱顏!

Peak follows peak, each but a hand's breadth from the sky;

Dead pine trees hang head down into the chasms,
連峰去天不盈尺，枯松倒掛倚絕壁。

Torrents and waterfalls outroar over rocks,

Booming like thunder through a thousand caverns.
飛湍瀑流爭喧豗，砯崖轉石萬壑雷。

What takes you, travelers, this long, weary way

So filled with danger?
其險也如此，嗟爾遠道之人。

Sword Pass is steep and narrow,
胡為乎來哉!劍閣崢嶸而崔嵬，

One man could hold this pass against ten thousand;
一夫當關，萬夫莫開。

And sometimes its defenders

Are not mortal men but wolves and jackals.
所守或匪親，化為狼與豺。

By day we dread the savage tiger ,by night the serpent,
朝避猛虎，夕避長蛇，

Sharp-fanged sucker of blood

Who chops men down like stalks of hemp.
磨牙吮血，殺人如麻。

The City of Brocade may be a pleasant place,

But it is best to seek you home.
錦城雖云樂，不如早還家。

For it is easier to climb to heaven

Than take the Sichuan Road.

I gaze into the west, and sigh.
蜀道之難難于上青天，側身西望長咨嗟!