李白’s poem 《夜宿山寺》

Question

Inspired by this question, I would like a feed-back about my interpretation of 李白’s poem 《夜宿山寺》(suggested here).

《夜宿山寺》

危楼高百尺,

手可摘星辰。

不敢高声语,

恐惊天上人。

In this poem, 李白 explains his awestruck wonder while seeing for the first time an heavenly temple, that seems to reach the stars.

• The first line sounds like "A dangerous building, about to collapse, hundred feet tall", but in this context, I'd translate "危楼" like "unsettling, disquieting building": "the building is hundred feet tall [and its height makes me feel] disquiet".

• "my hands can pick the stars in the sky": I'm so close to the sky that I could pick the stars with my own hands.

• "I don't dare to speak loudly": the disquietude expressed in the previous verses moves deeper to the poet's interior mood, translating from a passive astonishment to an active (or, better, inactive) behavior.

• "For fear of startling the gods". In this line, I'm very confused about how to translate "天上人". I'd say "the living beings up above", "the creatures of the sky" (though I think I got the sense, probably my knowledge of the culture of the time is too little, to be able to express this line as the poet intended).

Here's my final interpretation:

The building is hundred feet tall, of such a disquieting height

that I could pluck the stars with my own hands.

I don't dare to speak loudly

for fear of startling the beings up there.

Answer 1

My non-classical version.

夜宿山寺

危楼高百尺,

手可摘星辰。

不敢高声语,

恐惊天上人。

Night's Stay in Highland Temple

Towering at a hundred feet,

The stars hands could pick;

Words were softly spoke,

Frighten not the heavenly folks.

Note: Whatever 天上人 means in different context, it does not mean "souls of deceased/ancestors", or Aliens from another Planet.

It means, in ancient Chinese mythology, supernatural non-human entities that dwell in the Heavenly Realm / Paradise. They could be called "gods", "Immortals", "Angelic Beings", etc., and they are there either through personal attainment, (like having achieved Nirvana), or Universal Beings that have always existed since the beginning of Time.

Take your pick.

Also, BTW, 李白 said 不敢高声语, 恐惊天上人 because these 天上人 are not all benign, loving, compassionate Entities, but could be quick to anger, ferocious, un-forgiving, obnoxious "gods" that could visit the human realm with suffering, torment, etc., at the slightest provocation, like 高声语. Thus when there is thunder, the Thunder God is angry.

Answer 2

Just search 夜宿山寺 in 百度 for a translation from Cryptic Older Chinese to Modern Chinese. Then, understanding it is not so hard.

Imagine 李白 if he had had the chance to board the International Space Station, that rickety old piece of tin! 好危啊！

危wēi：high

《夜宿山寺》

危楼高百尺,
手可摘星辰。
不敢高声语,
恐惊天上人。

译文： Translation:

山上寺院的高楼真高啊，
The tower of the mountain temple is tall, really tall,
好像有一百尺的样子，
looks like it is one hundred feet tall,
人在楼上好像一伸手就可以摘下天上的星星。
on top it seems like, you just need to reach out your hand, and you can pluck stars from the heavens.
站在这里，
standing here,
我不敢大声说话，
I don't dare speak in a loud voice,
唯恐（害怕）惊动天上的神仙。
lest (for fear that) I disturb the immortals in the heavens.
(Immortals need their rest in that heavenly old-folks home!)

Strange, when I look at this website on my phone I see different questions than when I look on my computer!