1. Seventeen Songs of Autumn Pool Songs - Fourteenth
Tang Dynasty: Li Bai
The fire shines in the sky and the earth, and the red star messes up the purple smoke.
The night of the blushing moon, the song moves the cold river.
Translation: The furnace fire was burning, the red stars were splashing, the purple smoke was steaming, and the wide world was brightly illuminated by the red furnace fire. The copper refiners labor on the night of the bright moon while singing; their songs break the ghostly darkness of the night and shake the rivers of the cold sky.
2. Silkworm Woman
Song Dynasty: Zhang Yu
Yesterday, I entered the city, and returned with tears all over my scarf.
The one who is covered with silk is not a silkworm breeder.
Translation: Yesterday I went into the city to sell silk, and when I came back my handkerchief was wet with tears. Why so sad? I saw rich people dressed in damask and silk, and none of them was a silkworm breeder.
3, the farmhouse looking at the sunshine
Tang Dynasty: Yong Yuzhi
Tried to hear the west wind and rain in the Qin land, in order to ask the west wind to return in the morning and evening.?
The white-haired old farmer is like a crane standing, looking at the clouds opening from the high place of the wheat field.
Translation: I once heard that it would rain when the west wind blew in the land of Qin (in the area of present-day Shaanxi Province); when will you go back, O west wind? The old farmer with white hair stood for a long time on the high place of the wheat field, hoping for the clouds to disperse and the sun to reappear.
4. The Charcoal Seller
Tang Dynasty: Bai Juyi
The Charcoal Seller is a man who cuts down firewood and burns charcoal in the southern mountains. His face is full of dust and smoke, his temples are pale and his fingers are black.
What do I do with the money from selling charcoal? I have to wear clothes and eat out of my mouth. The poor man's clothes are just a little bit thin, and he is worried about the low price of charcoal and wishes for a cold day.
There was a foot of snow outside the city at night, and the charcoal wagon rolled over the icy ruts in the morning. The cows were tired and the people were hungry, so I rested in the mud outside the south gate.
Who are the two riders? The yellow-coated emissaries in white shirts. The first one is the one with the most important thing in the world, and the second one is the one with the most important thing in the world, and the third one is the one with the most important thing in the world.
A carload of charcoal, more than a thousand pounds, the palace envoys drive will not be able to cherish. The first is a red silk and a silk, tied to the head of the ox to fill the charcoal straight.
Translation: There was an old man who sold charcoal and spent the whole year chopping wood and burning charcoal in the southern mountains. His face was full of dust, showing the color of smoke and fire, and his temples were white and his fingers were black. What did he use the money he got from selling charcoal for? For clothes and food. The poor man was wearing only thin clothes, but he was worried that the charcoal was worthless and wished it was colder.
A foot of snow fell outside the city at night, and at dawn he drove the charcoal cart over the icy road to the market. The oxen were tired and the men were hungry, but the sun had risen high enough for him to rest in the mud outside the south gate of the fairgrounds. Who were the two men on horseback who were so pleased with themselves? It was the eunuch and the eunuch's men within the palace.
They held the paperwork in their hands and claimed it was the emperor's order, yelling at the oxen to pull it toward the palace. A carload of charcoal, more than a thousand pounds, the eunuchs and servants hard to drive away, the old man a hundred times, but there is nothing to be done. Those people put half a red veil and a ten feet of damask, hanging toward the ox head, as the money to buy charcoal.
5. Two Songs of Ancient Style / Two Songs of Compassionate Farming
Li Shen of the Tang Dynasty
Spring planting a grain of corn, autumn harvest ten thousand seeds. There are no idle fields in the four seas, and the farmers are still starving to death.
The day of the hoe is noon, and the sweat drips down to the soil. Who knows how hard it is to eat in the middle of the plate?
Translation: As long as one seed is sown in the spring, many grains can be harvested in the fall. There are no wasted fields in the whole world, but there are still hard-working peasants who die of starvation. At noon in the middle of summer, when the sun is scorching hot, farmers are still laboring, and their sweat beads drip into the soil. Who thought that our bowl of rice, grains full of farmers' blood and sweat?