年轮 Annual Ring

年轮 Annual Ring
by 张碧晨 Zhang Bichen
from <<花千骨 Journey of Flower>> Soundtrack

圆圈勾勒成指纹 印在我的嘴唇
Circles draw an outline of a fingerprint
Imprinted upon my lips
回忆苦涩的吻痕 是树根
The kiss marks of bitter memories
Are like tree roots

春去秋来的茂盛 却遮住了黄昏
The changes of spring and autumn flourish
And yet it hid the setting sun
寒夜剩我一个人等清晨
The cold night leaves me alone to await early morning

世间最毒的仇恨 是有缘却无分
The most destructive bitterness in this world
Is meeting yet not being destined
可惜你从未心疼 我的笨
It's too bad, your heart has never ached
I was just foolish
荒草丛生的青春 倒也过的安稳
The weeds thrive and grow thickly now
But I suppose that I'm still steadily living
代替你陪着我的是年轮
In your place what accompanies me are the growth rings

数着一圈圈年轮
Counting the number of rings in a tree
我认真 将心事都封存
I carefully seal and hide all my worries
密密麻麻是我的自尊
Tightly packed together
Is my pride
修改一次次离分
Making adjustments with every separation
我承认 曾幻想过永恒
I admit
Once I dreamed of eternity
可惜从没人陪我演这剧本
It's too bad, there's no one to perform that story with me

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Notes:
圆圈勾勒成指纹 - lit. circles outlining becoming fingerprint
(I imagine circles going round and round until it becomes a fingerprint, or several fingerprints - I don't know because Chinese doesn't feel the need to specify)
苦涩 - bitterness, anguish
回忆苦涩的吻痕 是树根 - the kiss marks of bitter recollections are tree roots
(I put 'are like tree roots' because it makes more sense, also can be took root I guess?)
茂盛 - lush, luxuriant, exuberance
黄昏 - dusk, nightfall, twilight
春去秋来的茂盛 却遮住了黄昏 - lit. the lushness/exuberance of spring and autumn's coming and going, yet hiding the dusk
(This blog is just going to be a constant struggle of my wish to remain as faithful to the original text by translating it closely, and my wish to make it sound nice. Basically this sentence is like the flourishes of the changing seasons hid the twilight. I made it setting sun because a) I wanted to match the length of the first part about spring and autumn and b) the next line talks about the night so it makes sense to have the idea of the night falling or sun setting. I was gonna go with darkening twilight but decided it was too complicated.)
世间最毒的仇恨 是有缘却无分 - lit. the (earthly) world's most poisonous hatred, is having destiny but not being destined
(Ok I feel like this is a Chinese only thing because 缘分 means fate or destiny that brings people together, so having only 缘 but not 分 is like having enough fate to be brought together or having affinity together but not enough fate to be actually destined for each other. Something like that.)
心疼 - love dearly, the pain of loving, appreciate
我的笨 - my stupidity, my mistake
(Can be interpreted as you've never appreciated the pain of not being destined, I guess it was just my mistake/me being foolish OR you've never loved me for my foolishness idk man)
荒草丛生的青春 倒也过的安稳 - lit. youth/springtime of the neglected grass growing thickly, although passes/lives smoothly
(I have no idea how to interpret this. So does it mean the weeds are growing a lot now but it's not so bad living it? Or the weeds used to grow but it passed by smoothly? Or does it means the weeds are growing now but at one point there used to be smoothness? Or does it mean the weeds of [our] youth actually grow peacefully? Help. I went with the first one, as in even though there are weeds, I still live peacefully)
年轮 - annual rings
(Oh boy, here we come to the title of the song. It literally means annual rings, the name for the rings on tree trunks that tell you the age of the tree. I put the literal translation, but it sounds awkward to say someone's accompanied by growth rings/tree rings. I think the song is talking more about the cycle of years, the passing of time, the turning of seasons etc. )
自尊 - self respect, self esteem
(I have no idea what it means by saying I'm serious, when worries are sealed up, packed tightly, that's my pride. I put serious and worries into one sentence but honestly I have no idea.)
剧本- screenplay, script
(This refers to the eternity or everlasting, implying love. Meaning she has no partner to live that kind of dream with. ):

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