075

七言乐府

李颀

古从军行

白日登山望烽火， 黄昏饮马傍交河。
行人刁斗风沙暗， 公主琵琶幽怨多。
野云万里无城郭， 雨雪纷纷连大漠。
胡雁哀鸣夜夜飞， 胡儿眼泪双双落。
闻道玉门犹被遮， 应将性命逐轻车。
年年战骨埋荒外， 空见葡萄入汉家。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Qi

AN OLD WAR-SONG

Through the bright day up the mountain, we scan the sky for a war-torch;
At yellow dusk we water our horses in the boundaryriver;
And when the throb of watch-drums hangs in the sandy wind,
We hear the guitar of the Chinese Princess telling her endless woe....
Three thousand miles without a town, nothing but camps,
Till the heavy sky joins the wide desert in snow.
With their plaintive calls, barbarian wildgeese fly from night to night,
And children of the Tartars have many tears to shed;
But we hear that the Jade Pass is still under siege,
And soon we stake our lives upon our light warchariots.
Each year we bury in the desert bones unnumbered,
Yet we only watch for grape-vines coming into China.

076

乐府

王维

洛阳女儿行

洛阳女儿对门居， 才可容颜十五余；
良人玉勒乘骢马， 侍女金盘脍鲤鱼。
画阁朱楼尽相望， 红桃绿柳垂檐向。
罗帷送上七香车， 宝扇迎归九华帐。
狂夫富贵在青春， 意气骄奢剧季伦。
自怜碧玉亲教舞， 不惜珊瑚持与人。
春窗曙灭九微火， 九微片片飞花璅。
戏罢曾无理曲时， 妆成祇是薰香坐。
城中相识尽繁华， 日夜经过赵李家。
谁怜越女颜如玉？ 贫贱江头自浣纱。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Wang Wei

A SONG OF A GIRL FROM LOYANG

There's a girl from Loyang in the door across the street,
She looks fifteen, she may be a little older.
...While her master rides his rapid horse with jade bit an bridle,
Her handmaid brings her cod-fish in a golden plate.
On her painted pavilions, facing red towers,
Cornices are pink and green with peach-bloom and with willow,
Canopies of silk awn her seven-scented chair,
And rare fans shade her, home to her nine-flowered curtains.
Her lord, with rank and wealth and in the bud of life,
Exceeds in munificence the richest men of old.
He favours this girl of lowly birth, he has her taught to dance;
And he gives away his coral-trees to almost anyone.
The wind of dawn just stirs when his nine soft lights go out,
Those nine soft lights like petals in a flying chain of flowers.
Between dances she has barely time for singing over the songs;
No sooner is she dressed again than incense burns before her.
Those she knows in town are only the rich and the lavish,
And day and night she is visiting the hosts of the gayest mansions.
...Who notices the girl from Yue with a face of white jade,
Humble, poor, alone, by the river, washing silk?

077

乐府

王维

老将行

少年十五二十时， 步行夺得胡马骑。
射杀山中白额虎， 肯数邺下黄须儿。
一身转战三千里， 一剑曾当百万师。
汉兵奋迅如霹雳， 虏骑崩腾畏蒺藜。
卫青不败由天幸， 李广无功缘数奇。
自从弃置便衰朽， 世事蹉跎成白首。
昔时飞箭无全目， 今日垂杨生左肘。
路旁时卖故侯瓜， 门前学种先生柳。
苍茫古木连穷巷， 寥落寒山对虚牖。
誓令疏勒出飞泉， 不似颍川空使酒。
贺兰山下阵如云， 羽檄交驰日夕闻。
节使三河募年少， 诏书五道出将军。
试拂铁衣如雪色， 聊持宝剑动星文。
愿得燕弓射大将， 耻令越甲鸣吾君。
莫嫌旧日云中守， 犹堪一战取功勋。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Wang Wei

SONG OF AN OLD GENERAL

When he was a youth of fifteen or twenty,
He chased a wild horse, he caught him and rode him,
He shot the white-browed mountain tiger,
He defied the yellow-bristled Horseman of Ye.
Fighting single- handed for a thousand miles,
With his naked dagger he could hold a multitude.
...Granted that the troops of China were as swift as heaven's thunder
And that Tartar soldiers perished in pitfalls fanged with iron,
General Wei Qing's victory was only a thing of chance.
And General Li Guang's thwarted effort was his fate, not his fault.
Since this man's retirement he is looking old and worn:
Experience of the world has hastened his white hairs.
Though once his quick dart never missed the right eye of a bird,
Now knotted veins and tendons make his left arm like an osier.
He is sometimes at the road-side selling melons from his garden,
He is sometimes planting willows round his hermitage.
His lonely lane is shut away by a dense grove,
His vacant window looks upon the far cold mountains
But, if he prayed, the waters would come gushing for his men
And never would he wanton his cause away with wine.
...War-clouds are spreading, under the Helan Range;
Back and forth, day and night, go feathered messages;
In the three River Provinces, the governors call young men --
And five imperial edicts have summoned the old general.
So he dusts his iron coat and shines it like snow-
Waves his dagger from its jade hilt in a dance of starry steel.
He is ready with his strong northern bow to smite the Tartar chieftain --
That never a foreign war-dress may affront the Emperor.
...There once was an aged Prefect, forgotten and far away,
Who still could manage triumph with a single stroke.

078

乐府

王维

桃源行

渔舟逐水爱山春， 两岸桃花夹古津。
坐看红树不知远， 行尽青溪不见人。
山口潜行始隈隩， 山开旷望旋平陆。
遥看一处攒云树， 近入千家散花竹。
樵客初传汉姓名， 居人未改秦衣服。
居人共住武陵源， 还从物外起田园。
月明松下房栊静， 日出云中鸡犬喧。
惊闻俗客争来集， 竞引还家问都邑。
平明闾巷扫花开， 薄暮渔樵乘水入。
初因避地去人间， 及至成仙遂不还。
峡里谁知有人事， 世中遥望空云山。
不疑灵境难闻见， 尘心未尽思乡县。
出洞无论隔山水， 辞家终拟长游衍。
自谓经过旧不迷， 安知峰壑今来变。
当时只记入山深， 青溪几曲到云林？
春来遍是桃花水， 不辨仙源何处寻？

Folk-song-styled-verse

Wang Wei

A SONG OF PEACH-BLOSSOM RIVER

A fisherman is drifting, enjoying the spring mountains,
And the peach-trees on both banks lead him to an ancient source.
Watching the fresh-coloured trees, he never thinks of distance
Till he comes to the end of the blue stream and suddenly- strange men!
It's a cave-with a mouth so narrow that he has to crawl through;
But then it opens wide again on a broad and level path --
And far beyond he faces clouds crowning a reach of trees,
And thousands of houses shadowed round with flowers and bamboos....
Woodsmen tell him their names in the ancient speech of Han;
And clothes of the Qin Dynasty are worn by all these people
Living on the uplands, above the Wuling River,
On farms and in gardens that are like a world apart,
Their dwellings at peace under pines in the clear moon,
Until sunrise fills the low sky with crowing and barking.
...At news of a stranger the people all assemble,
And each of them invites him home and asks him where he was born.
Alleys and paths are cleared for him of petals in the morning,
And fishermen and farmers bring him their loads at dusk....
They had left the world long ago, they had come here seeking refuge;
They have lived like angels ever since, blessedly far away,
No one in the cave knowing anything outside,
Outsiders viewing only empty mountains and thick clouds.
...The fisherman, unaware of his great good fortune,
Begins to think of country, of home, of worldly ties,
Finds his way out of the cave again, past mountains and past rivers,
Intending some time to return, when he has told his kin.
He studies every step he takes, fixes it well in mind,
And forgets that cliffs and peaks may vary their appearance.
...It is certain that to enter through the deepness of the mountain,
A green river leads you, into a misty wood.
But now, with spring-floods everywhere and floating peachpetals --
Which is the way to go, to find that hidden source?

079

乐府

李白

蜀道难

噫吁戏， 危乎高哉！
蜀道之难难于上青天！
蚕丛及鱼凫， 开国何茫然。
尔来四万八千岁， 始与秦塞通人烟。
西当太白有鸟道， 可以横绝峨眉巅。
地崩山摧壮士死， 然后天梯石栈方钩连。
上有六龙回日之高标， 下有冲波逆折之回川。
黄鹤之飞尚不得， 猿猱欲度愁攀援。
青泥何盘盘， 百步九折萦岩峦，
扪参历井仰胁息， 以手抚膺坐长叹。
问君西游何时还？ 畏途巉岩不可攀。
但见悲鸟号古木， 雄飞雌从绕林间；
又闻子规啼， 夜月愁空山。
蜀道之难难于上青天！
使人听此凋朱颜。
连峰去天不盈尺， 枯松倒挂倚绝壁。
飞湍瀑流争喧豗， 砯崖转石万壑雷。
其险也如此！ 嗟尔远道之人，
胡为乎来哉？ 剑阁峥嵘而崔嵬，
一夫当关， 万夫莫开；
所守或匪亲， 化为狼与豺，
朝避猛虎， 夕避长蛇，
磨牙吮血， 杀人如麻。
锦城虽云乐， 不如早还家。
蜀道之难难于上青天， 侧身西望常咨嗟。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Bai

HARD ROADS IN SHU

Oh, but it is high and very dangerous!
Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky.
...Until two rulers of this region
Pushed their way through in the misty ages,
Forty-eight thousand years had passed
With nobody arriving across the Qin border.
And the Great White Mountain, westward, still has only a bird's path
Up to the summit of Emei Peak --
Which was broken once by an earthquake and there were brave men lost,
Just finishing the stone rungs of their ladder toward heaven.
...High, as on a tall flag, six dragons drive the sun,
While the river, far below, lashes its twisted course.
Such height would be hard going for even a yellow crane,
So pity the poor monkeys who have only paws to use.
The Mountain of Green Clay is formed of many circles-
Each hundred steps, we have to turn nine turns among its mound --
Panting, we brush Orion and pass the Well Star,
Then, holding our chests with our hands and sinking to the ground with a groan,
We wonder if this westward trail will never have an end.
The formidable path ahead grows darker, darker still,
With nothing heard but the call of birds hemmed in by the ancient forest,
Male birds smoothly wheeling, following the females;
And there come to us the melancholy voices of the cuckoos
Out on the empty mountain, under the lonely moon....
Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky.
Even to hear of it turns the cheek pale,
With the highest crag barely a foot below heaven.
Dry pines hang, head down, from the face of the cliffs,
And a thousand plunging cataracts outroar one another
And send through ten thousand valleys a thunder of spinning stones.
With all this danger upon danger,
Why do people come here who live at a safe distance?
...Though Dagger-Tower Pass be firm and grim,
And while one man guards it
Ten thousand cannot force it,
What if he be not loyal,
But a wolf toward his fellows?
...There are ravenous tigers to fear in the day
And venomous reptiles in the night
With their teeth and their fangs ready
To cut people down like hemp.
Though the City of Silk be delectable, I would rather turn home quickly.
Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky....
But I still face westward with a dreary moan.

080

乐府

李白

长相思之一

长相思， 在长安。
络纬秋啼金井阑， 微霜凄凄簟色寒。
孤灯不明思欲绝， 卷帷望月空长叹。
美人如花隔云端， 上有青冥之长天，
下有渌水之波澜。
天长路远魂飞苦， 梦魂不到关山难。
长相思， 摧心肝。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Bai

ENDLESS YEARNING I

"I am endlessly yearning
To be in Changan.
...Insects hum of autumn by the gold brim of the well;
A thin frost glistens like little mirrors on my cold mat;
The high lantern flickers; and. deeper grows my longing.
I lift the shade and, with many a sigh, gaze upon the moon,
Single as a flower, centred from the clouds.
Above, I see the blueness and deepness of sky.
Below, I see the greenness and the restlessness of water....
Heaven is high, earth wide; bitter between them flies my sorrow.
Can I dream through the gateway, over the mountain?
Endless longing
Breaks my heart."

081

乐府

李白

长相思之二

日色已尽花含烟， 月明欲素愁不眠。
赵瑟初停凤凰柱， 蜀琴欲奏鸳鸯弦。
此曲有意无人传， 愿随春风寄燕然。
忆君迢迢隔青天， 昔日横波目，
今成流泪泉。
不信妾肠断， 归来看取明镜前。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Bai

ENDLESS YEARNING II

"The sun has set, and a mist is in the flowers;
And the moon grows very white and people sad and sleepless.
A Zhao harp has just been laid mute on its phoenix holder,
And a Shu lute begins to sound its mandarin-duck strings....
Since nobody can bear to you the burden of my song,
Would that it might follow the spring wind to Yanran Mountain.
I think of you far away, beyond the blue sky,
And my eyes that once were sparkling
Are now a well of tears.
...Oh, if ever you should doubt this aching of my heart,
Here in my bright mirror come back and look at me!"

082

乐府

李白

行路难之一

金樽清酒斗十千， 玉盘珍羞值万钱。
停杯投箸不能食， 拔剑四顾心茫然。
欲渡黄河冰塞川， 将登太行雪暗天。
闲来垂钓碧溪上， 忽复乘舟梦日边。
行路难！ 行路难！
多歧路， 今安在？
长风破浪会有时， 直挂云帆济沧海。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Bai

THE HARD ROAD

Pure wine costs, for the golden cup, ten thousand coppers a flagon,
And a jade plate of dainty food calls for a million coins.
I fling aside my food-sticks and cup, I cannot eat nor drink....
I pull out my dagger, I peer four ways in vain.
I would cross the Yellow River, but ice chokes the ferry;
I would climb the Taihang Mountains, but the sky is blind with snow....
I would sit and poise a fishing-pole, lazy by a brook --
But I suddenly dream of riding a boat, sailing for the sun....
Journeying is hard,
Journeying is hard.
There are many turnings --
Which am I to follow?....
I will mount a long wind some day and break the heavy waves
And set my cloudy sail straight and bridge the deep, deep sea.

083

乐府

李白

行路难之二

大道如青天， 我独不得出。
羞逐长安社中儿， 赤鸡白狗赌梨栗。
弹剑作歌奏苦声， 曳裾王门不称情。
淮阴市井笑韩信， 汉朝公卿忌贾生。
君不见， 昔时燕家重郭隗，
拥彗折节无嫌猜；
剧辛乐毅感恩分， 输肝剖胆效英才。
昭王白骨萦蔓草， 谁人更扫黄金台？
行路难， 归去来？

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Bai

HARD IS THE WAY OF THE WORLD II

The way is broad like the blue sky,
But no way out before my eye.
I am ashamed to follow those who have no guts,
Gambling on fighting cocks and dogs for pears and nuts.
Feng would go homeward way, having no fish to eat;
Zhou did not think to bow to noblemen was meet.
General Han was mocked in the market-place;
The brilliant scholar Jia was banished in disgrace.
Have you not heard of King of Yan in days gone by,
Who venerated talents and built Terrace high
On which he offered gold to gifted men
And stooped low and swept the floor to welcome them?
Grateful, Ju Xin and Yue Yi came then
And served him heart and soul, both full of stratagem.
The King's bones were now buried,
who would sweep the floor of the Gold Terrace any more?
Hard is the way.
Go back without delay!

084

乐府

李白

行路难之三

有耳莫洗颍川水， 有口莫食首阳蕨。
含光混世贵无名， 何用孤高比云月？
吾观自古贤达人， 功成不退皆殒身。
子胥既弃吴江上， 屈原终投湘水滨。
陆机雄才岂自保？ 李斯税驾苦不早。
华亭鹤唳讵可闻？ 上蔡苍鹰何足道。
君不见， 吴中张翰称达生，
秋风忽忆江东行。
且乐生前一杯酒， 何须身后千载名？

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Bai

HARD IS THE WAY OF THE WORLD III

Don't wash your ears on hearing something you dislike
Nor die of hunger like famous hermits on the Pike!
Living without a fame among the motley crowd,
Why should one be as lofty as the moon or cloud?
Of ancient talents who failed to retire, there's none
But came to tragic ending after glory's won.
The head of General Wu was hung o'er city gate;
In the river was drowned the poet laureate.
The highly talented scholar wished in vain
To preserve his life to hear the cry of the crane.
Minister Li regretted not to have retired
To hunt with falcon gray as he had long desired.
Have you not heard of Zhang Han who resigned, carefree,
To go home to eat his perch with high glee?
Enjoy a cup of wine while you're alive!
Do not care if your fame will not survive!

085

乐府

李白

将进酒

君不见， 黄河之水天上来，
奔流到海不复回？
君不见， 高堂明镜悲白发，
朝如青丝暮成雪？ 人生得意须尽欢，
莫使金樽空对月， 天生我材必有用，
千金散尽还复来。
烹羊宰牛且为乐， 会须一饮三百杯。
岑夫子！ 丹丘生！
将进酒； 君莫停。
与君歌一曲， 请君为我侧耳听。
钟鼓馔玉不足贵， 但愿长醉不愿醒。
古来圣贤皆寂寞， 惟有饮者留其名。
陈王昔时宴平乐， 斗酒十千恣欢谑。
主人何为言少钱？ 径须沽取对君酌。
五花马， 千金裘。
呼儿将出换美酒， 与尔同消万古愁。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Li Bai

BRINGING IN THE WINE

See how the Yellow River's waters move out of heaven.
Entering the ocean, never to return.
See how lovely locks in bright mirrors in high chambers,
Though silken-black at morning, have changed by night to snow.
...Oh, let a man of spirit venture where he pleases
And never tip his golden cup empty toward the moon!
Since heaven gave the talent, let it be employed!
Spin a thousand pieces of silver, all of them come back!
Cook a sheep, kill a cow, whet the appetite,
And make me, of three hundred bowls, one long drink!
...To the old master, Cen,
And the young scholar, Danqiu,
Bring in the wine!
Let your cups never rest!
Let me sing you a song!
Let your ears attend!
What are bell and drum, rare dishes and treasure?
Let me be forever drunk and never come to reason!
Sober men of olden days and sages are forgotten,
And only the great drinkers are famous for all time.
...Prince Chen paid at a banquet in the Palace of Perfection
Ten thousand coins for a cask of wine, with many a laugh and quip.
Why say, my host, that your money is gone?
Go and buy wine and we'll drink it together!
My flower-dappled horse,
My furs worth a thousand,
Hand them to the boy to exchange for good wine,
And we'll drown away the woes of ten thousand generations!

086

乐府

杜甫

兵车行

车辚辚， 马萧萧，
行人弓箭各在腰。
耶娘妻子走相送， 尘埃不见咸阳桥。
牵衣顿足拦道哭， 哭声直上干云霄。
道旁过者问行人， 行人但云点行频。
或从十五北防河， 便至四十西营田。
去时里正与裹头， 归来头白还戍边。
边亭流血成海水， 武皇开边意未已。
君不闻， 汉家山东二百州，
千村万落生荆杞？
纵有健妇把锄犁， 禾生陇亩无东西。
况复秦兵耐苦战， 被驱不异犬与鸡。
长者虽有问， 役夫敢申恨；
且如今年冬， 未休关西卒。
县官急索租， 租税从何出？
信知生男恶， 反是生女好；
生女犹得嫁比邻， 生男埋没随百草。
君不见， 青海头，
古来白骨无人收？
新鬼烦冤旧鬼哭， 天阴雨湿声啾啾。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Du Fu

A SONG OF WAR-CHARIOTS

The war-chariots rattle,
The war-horses whinny.
Each man of you has a bow and a quiver at his belt.
Father, mother, son, wife, stare at you going,
Till dust shall have buried the bridge beyond Changan.
They run with you, crying, they tug at your sleeves,
And the sound of their sorrow goes up to the clouds;
And every time a bystander asks you a question,
You can only say to him that you have to go.
...We remember others at fifteen sent north to guard the river
And at forty sent west to cultivate the campfarms.
The mayor wound their turbans for them when they started out.
With their turbaned hair white now, they are still at the border,
At the border where the blood of men spills like the sea --
And still the heart of Emperor Wu is beating for war.
...Do you know that, east of China's mountains, in two hundred districts
And in thousands of villages, nothing grows but weeds,
And though strong women have bent to the ploughing,
East and west the furrows all are broken down?
...Men of China are able to face the stiffest battle,
But their officers drive them like chickens and dogs.
Whatever is asked of them,
Dare they complain?
For example, this winter
Held west of the gate,
Challenged for taxes,
How could they pay?
...We have learned that to have a son is bad luck-
It is very much better to have a daughter
Who can marry and live in the house of a neighbour,
While under the sod we bury our boys.
...Go to the Blue Sea, look along the shore
At all the old white bones forsaken --
New ghosts are wailing there now with the old,
Loudest in the dark sky of a stormy day.

087

乐府

杜甫

丽人行

三月三日天气新， 长安水边多丽人。
态浓意远淑且真， 肌理细腻骨肉匀。
绣罗衣裳照暮春， 蹙金孔雀银麒麟。
头上何所有？ 翠微盍叶垂鬓唇。
背后何所见？ 珠压腰衱稳称身。
就中云幕椒房亲， 赐名大国虢与秦。
紫驼之峰出翠釜， 水精之盘行素鳞。
犀箸餍饫久未下， 鸾刀缕切空纷纶。
黄门飞鞚不动尘， 御厨络绎送八珍。
箫鼓哀吟感鬼神， 宾从杂遝实要津。
后来鞍马何逡巡？ 当轩下马入锦茵。
杨花雪落覆白苹， 青鸟飞去衔红巾。
炙手可热势绝伦， 慎莫近前丞相嗔。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Du Fu

A SONG OF FAIR WOMEN

On the third day of the Third-month in the freshening weather
Many beauties take the air by the Changan waterfront,
Receptive, aloof, sweet-mannered, sincere,
With soft fine skin and well-balanced bone.
Their embroidered silk robes in the spring sun are gleaming --
With a mass of golden peacocks and silver unicorns.
And hanging far down from their temples
Are blue leaves of delicate kingfisher feathers.
And following behind them
Is a pearl-laden train, rhythmic with bearers.
Some of them are kindred to the Royal House --
The titled Princesses Guo and Qin.
Red camel-humps are brought them from jade broilers,
And sweet fish is ordered them on crystal trays.
Though their food-sticks of unicorn-horn are lifted languidly
And the finely wrought phoenix carving-knife is very little used,
Fleet horses from the Yellow Gate, stirring no dust,
Bring precious dishes constantly from the imperial kitchen.
...While a solemn sound of flutes and drums invokes gods and spirits,
Guests and courtiers gather, all of high rank;
And finally, riding slow, a dignified horseman
Dismounts at the pavilion on an embroidered rug.
In a snow of flying willow-cotton whitening the duckweed,
Bluebirds find their way with vermilion handkerchiefs --
But power can be as hot as flame and burn people's fingers.
Be wary of the Premier, watch for his frown.

088

乐府

杜甫

哀江头

少陵野老吞生哭， 春日潜行曲江曲；
江头宫殿锁千门， 细柳新蒲为谁绿？
忆昔霓旌下南苑； 苑中景物生颜色。
昭阳殿里第一人， 同辇随君侍君侧。
辇前才人带弓箭， 白马嚼啮黄金勒。
翻身向天仰射云， 一箭正坠双飞翼。
明眸皓齿今何在？ 血污游魂归不得。
清渭东流剑阁深， 去住彼此无消息。
人生有情泪沾臆， 江水江花岂终极？
黄昏胡骑尘满城， 欲往城南望城北。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Du Fu

A SONG OF SOBBING BY THE RIVER

I am only an old woodsman, whispering a sob,
As I steal like a spring-shadow down the Winding River.
...Since the palaces ashore are sealed by a thousand gates --
Fine willows, new rushes, for whom are you so green?
...I remember a cloud of flags that came from the South Garden,
And ten thousand colours, heightening one another,
And the Kingdom's first Lady, from the Palace of the Bright Sun,
Attendant on the Emperor in his royal chariot,
And the horsemen before them, each with bow and arrows,
And the snowy horses, champing at bits of yellow gold,
And an archer, breast skyward, shooting through the clouds
And felling with one dart a pair of flying birds.
...Where are those perfect eyes, where are those pearly teeth?
A blood-stained spirit has no home, has nowhere to return.
And clear Wei waters running east, through the cleft on Dagger- Tower Trail,
Carry neither there nor here any news of her.
People, compassionate, are wishing with tears
That she were as eternal as the river and the flowers.
...Mounted Tartars, in the yellow twilight, cloud the town with dust.
I am fleeing south, but I linger-gazing northward toward the throne.

089

乐府

杜甫

哀王孙

长安城头头白乌， 夜飞延秋门上呼；
又向人家啄大屋， 屋底达官走避胡。
金鞭断折九马死， 骨肉不待同驰驱。
腰下宝玦青珊瑚， 问之不肯道姓名，
但道困苦乞为奴。
已经百日窜荆棘， 身上无有完肌肤。
高帝子孙尽隆准， 龙种自与常人殊。
豺狼在邑龙在野， 王孙善保千金躯。
不敢长语临交衢， 且为王孙立斯须。
昨夜东风吹血腥， 东来橐驼满旧都。
朔方健儿好身手， 昔何勇锐今何愚？
窃闻天子已传位， 圣德北服南单于。
花门剺面请雪耻， 慎勿出口他人狙。
哀哉王孙慎勿疏， 五陵佳气无时无。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Du Fu

A SONG OF A PRINCE DEPOSED

Along the wall of the Capital a white-headed crow
Flies to the Gate where Autumn Enters and screams there in the night,
Then turns again and pecks among the roofs of a tall mansion
Whose lord, a mighty mandarin, has fled before the Tartars,
With his golden whip now broken, his nine war-horses dead
And his own flesh and bone scattered to the winds....
There's a rare ring of green coral underneath the vest
Of a Prince at a street-corner, bitterly sobbing,
Who has to give a false name to anyone who asks him-
Just a poor fellow, hoping for employment.
A hundred days' hiding in grasses and thorns
Show on his body from head to foot.
But, since their first Emperor, all with hooknoses,
These Dragons look different from ordinary men.
Wolves are in the palace now and Dragons are lost in the desert --
O Prince, be very careful of your most sacred person!
I dare not address you long, here by the open road,
Nor even to stand beside you for more than these few moments.
Last night with the spring-wind there came a smell of blood;
The old Capital is full of camels from the east.
Our northern warriors are sound enough of body and of hand --
Oh, why so brave in olden times and so craven now?
Our Emperor, we hear, has given his son the throne
And the southern border-chieftains are loyally inclined
And the Huamen and Limian tribes are gathering to avenge us.
But still be careful-keep yourself well hidden from the dagger.
Unhappy Prince, I beg you, be constantly on guard --
Till power blow to your aid from the Five Imperial Tombs.