In a language class the teacher introduced to the pupils a work titled Night Thoughts by the great Tang Dynasty （618—907）poet Li Bai（李白）. The teachers words aroused Miao Miaos interest in the Tang Dynasty， but when it came to doing the exercises， while all the other pupils were busy Miao Miao was so tired that he was slumped over（沉重地倒下） his desk asleep， oblivious to all around him...

Miao Miao seemed to be in a strange place. It was not his own home， but more like an inn. All the furnishings were different， too， with an antique flavor. He opened the woodenframed window， and saw a full moon.

“Where am I？” he wondered aloud.

The door opened， and a young man in his twenties entered. He had a pair of bright piercing（敏銳的）eyes. He wore a long robe， and a precious sword hung at his waist.“What are you doing in my room？” the man asked.

Then Miao Miao understood that he had been transported over a thousand years back in time， to the Tang Dynasty. This handsome and elegant young man was the great poet Li Bai！ Miao Miao exclaimed excitedly： “You must be Li Bai！ Today in language class we studied your Night Thoughts. Almost everybody knows by heart the Tang poems that you wrote！”

“Is that so？” exclaimed Li Bai with a contented smile.“I thought that only people of the Tang Dynasty learned my poems； I never thought that they would still be popular over a thousand years later！”

“That explains how truly well written your poems are，”said MiaoMiao. “How did you come to think of writing Night Thoughts at that time？”

“Its a long story，” said the poet. “In that year I left home to travel and study south of The Yangtze River. By the time I reached Yangzhou， I had run out of money. Moreover， I fell seriously ill. That night there was a full moon. I lay on the bed， but could not sleep as my head was full of thoughts of home. I took up my writing brush， and wrote this poem.”

“Really？” said Miao Miao. “Even though your poem does not mention home-sickness， I knew you were thinking of home. You see， in the poem it says ‘With bowed head， thoughts of my native place. Isnt that expressive of homesickness？” Miao Miao smiled as he said this.

Li Bai nodded， and said， “I can see you are well acquainted with that poem. Now I want to ask you： that poem only has four lines， and each line only has five characters. The meaning is very simple. Why does everyone say that such a simple poem is so well written？”

Miao Miao made a great effort to remember the teachers explanation in the classroom. He then recited the poem again. When he reached the line“I thought there was frost on the floor，” the answer dawned on him. “I know. This poem is infused with imagination. The moonlight is imagined to be white frost， and the reader gets a feeling of coldness.”

Li Bai gave Miao Miao a hearty thumbs-up sign.“What a bright boy！ ” he said. “I not only put imagination into that poem， ” he continued， “I also linked the moonlight and home-sickness together in the last two lines.”

Miao Miao exclaimed， “A night with a full moon is a time for thinking of home； this tradition has lasted for a thousand years， and the artistic attraction of Tang poetry has greatly contributed to this.”

“Miao Miao... wake up！ Youre not supposed to sleep in class.”

Miao Miao opened his eyes， and saw the angry face of his language teacher. Just then， the bell rang for the end of the class. The teacher mounted the podium， and said， “Children， as a closure to the class， we will all recite in unison the poem Night Thoughts which we studied today.”

“Moonlight before my bed，

Looks like frosty ground.

I look up at the bright moon，

With drooped head think of home.”

語(yǔ)文課上，老師給同學(xué)們講了唐代詩(shī)人李白的名詩(shī)《靜夜思》。通過(guò)老師的講解，苗苗對(duì)唐詩(shī)產(chǎn)生了興趣。這節(jié)課是習(xí)題課，大家都在做題，苗苗實(shí)在太困，趴在桌子上睡著了。周?chē)囊磺泻孟穸疾灰粯恿恕?/p>

苗苗感覺(jué)自己來(lái)到了一個(gè)陌生的地方，不是自己家里，倒像是一間客棧。周?chē)臄[設(shè)也變得古香古色。苗苗推開(kāi)木窗，看到一輪圓月掛在窗外。

“這是哪里呀？”苗苗大聲喊道。

“是誰(shuí)進(jìn)了我李太白的屋里？”房門(mén)被推開(kāi)，進(jìn)來(lái)一位20多歲的青年，雙眼炯炯有神。他穿著一件長(zhǎng)袍，腰中佩帶著一把寶劍。

苗苗這才明白，原來(lái)自己回到了1000多年前的唐朝。眼前這位英俊瀟灑的青年就是大詩(shī)人李白！苗苗激動(dòng)地說(shuō)：“您就是李白??！今天我們學(xué)了《靜夜思》。您寫(xiě)的這首詩(shī)，幾乎人人都會(huì)背呢！”

“是嗎？”李白得意地笑了?！拔抑恢雷约旱脑?shī)在唐朝人人會(huì)背，沒(méi)想到過(guò)了1000多年還是很流行??！”

“說(shuō)明這首詩(shī)確實(shí)寫(xiě)得好！您當(dāng)時(shí)是怎么想到要寫(xiě)這首詩(shī)呢？”苗苗問(wèn)。

“說(shuō)來(lái)話(huà)長(zhǎng)??！當(dāng)年我離開(kāi)家鄉(xiāng)到江南一帶游學(xué)，走到揚(yáng)州這個(gè)地方，錢(qián)也沒(méi)了，又生了一場(chǎng)大病。那天晚上也是一個(gè)月圓之夜，我躺在床上，太想念家鄉(xiāng)了，怎么都睡不著，提筆就寫(xiě)下了這首詩(shī)?！?/p>

“原來(lái)如此！其實(shí)您不說(shuō)，我也知道您想家了。您看，詩(shī)中‘低頭思故鄉(xiāng)不是在說(shuō)想家嗎？”苗苗笑著說(shuō)。

李白點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭：“看來(lái)你理解得不錯(cuò)。那我問(wèn)你，這首詩(shī)只有4句，每句只有5個(gè)字，意思又很簡(jiǎn)單。為什么這么簡(jiǎn)單的詩(shī)大家都說(shuō)寫(xiě)得好呢？”

苗苗努力回憶著課堂上老師的講解，又讀了一遍詩(shī)。讀到“疑是地上霜”，他恍然大悟：“我知道了。您在這首詩(shī)里加入了想象，把月光想象成白霜，這樣就讓讀者感受到一種發(fā)自?xún)?nèi)心的寒意?！?/p>

李白豎起大拇指：“孺子可教啊！我不但加入了想象，還在詩(shī)的后兩句把月亮和思鄉(xiāng)聯(lián)系到了一起?！?/p>

“月圓之夜也是思鄉(xiāng)之時(shí)，這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)竟然保留了上千年。唐詩(shī)的藝術(shù)魅力真大呀！”苗苗感嘆。

“苗苗……快起來(lái)，上課時(shí)不許睡覺(jué)！”苗苗睜開(kāi)眼，看到語(yǔ)文老師生氣的臉。這時(shí)下課鈴響了，老師走上講臺(tái)說(shuō)：“同學(xué)們，下課之前我們?cè)僖黄鸨痴b一次今天學(xué)習(xí)的這首《靜夜思》?！?/p>

“床前明月光，疑是地上霜。舉頭望明月，低頭思故鄉(xiāng)?！?/p>

注：中英文部分皆選自《用英文說(shuō)中國(guó)故事》。原文有刪改。