mây ngàn
Definition
- Noun:
- Clouds over the mountains: Literally refers to clouds drifting over remote, thousand-league mountains and forests. It evokes a sense of vast, wild, and poetic natural scenery.
- A wandering, transient life: Figuratively describes a life of wandering, without a fixed home, being here today and gone tomorrow like drifting clouds.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Thi sĩ ngắm nhìn mây ngàn trên đỉnh núi. (The poet gazed at the clouds over the mountains.)
- Cuộc đời của người nghệ sĩ hát rong như mây ngàn, nay đây mai đó. (The life of the traveling minstrel is like drifting clouds, here today and gone tomorrow.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is primarily poetic and literary. It is often used to create imagery of freedom, solitude, or the ephemeral nature of life and travel.
Variants and Related Words
Mây (n): cloud.
- Bầu trời đầy mây. (The sky is full of clouds.)
Ngàn (n, literary): forest, mountains; a thousand (as in a great number or distance).
- Anh ấy đi vào chốn ngàn xưa. (He ventured into the ancient forests.)
Synonyms
- Wandering clouds: for the literal meaning.
- Nomadic existence / itinerant life: for the figurative meaning.
- Drifter / wanderer: for a person living such a life.
Related Idioms and Phrases
Thân mây ngàn: A phrase describing oneself as having the transient, free nature of mountain clouds.
- Ông già nói mình đã quen với thân mây ngàn. (The old man said he was accustomed to a life like wandering clouds.)
Mây ngàn gió núi: An expanded phrase ("clouds over the mountains, wind in the peaks") emphasizing the untamed, lofty spirit of nature or a person.
- Tâm hồn anh ấy phóng khoáng như mây ngàn gió núi. (His soul is as free as the mountain clouds and wind.)