Flaky Delight
Chinese original: Su Shi (11th AC, social name 'Zizhan', art name 'Dongpo')
English translation & annotation: Julia Min (Jan. 2025)
With a gourd bottle on my thigh,
Without any care in my mind,
I sat down for a sip of wine
to flowers blooming in the wild.
Pan’s water wine kills my daytime;
Now I desire your Flaky Delight.
Analysis:
There’s an interesting story behind this little poem. One day Su Shi was invited to a dinner hosted by Scholar Ho at Huangzhou. A local pastry was served for tea. Dongpo really loved the flaky flavor and asked Ho: “what’s the name and how they made it so flaky. It’s delightful.” Ho replied: “It doesn’t have a name, but now it does. You’ve given it one. How about ‘Flaky Delight’?” Then Ho served Dongpo with a local rice wine from Pan’s, Su Shi tasted it and laughed: “Pan must have mixed it with water by mistake.” His humour was shared by other quests, hence Pan’s wine was named ‘Water Wine’. This poem was likely written when he was enjoying a carefree moment before his favorite capapple tree at Huangzhou, a very poor period when he could hardly afford enough food for his family. He loved drinking a bit of wine, and got used to Pan’s Water Wine. The flaky pastry has become a famous local specialty in the name of ‘Dongpo’s Flaky Delight’ which you can buy from the local supermarket today.
The first impression of the poem seems pretty plain like many art pieces from the Song Dynasty. The hidden message could be profound depending on the reader’s understanding of the poet. Su Shi became famous ever since he was 21 years old. His works were widely sought after. Even his political opponent Wang Anshi would keep asking for his new creation. Imagine how his political oppenents would feel after reading this one, maybe they would say: Okay he’s cast aside from any official work at Huangzhou, doing nothing at all there. Let him stay just like that. I can carry out The New Law without interference.
Su Shi knew this poem could also serve as a satire to his ambition to achieve more for the people. Wandering without a care in the world is surely not what he’s after. A bit dark humour in the taste, do you agree?
为甚酥诗
原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）
野饮花前百事无，腰间唯系一葫芦。
已倾潘子错注水，更觅君家为甚酥。
Comments