[updated October 2022]
Hawks Eat the Young, Then Steal From the Nests
鸢 夺 巢
野 鹊 野 鹊 巢 林 稍
鸱 鸢 恃 力 夺 鹊 巢。
吞 鹊 之 肝 啄 鹊 脑
窃 食 偷 居 常 自 保 。
凤 凰 五 色 百 鸟 尊
知 鸢 为 害 何 不 言？ 霜 野 鹞 得 残 肉
同 啄 腥 不 肯 逐 。
可 怜 百 鸟 生 纵 横
虽 有 深 林 何 处 宿！
Yuan Duo Chao
Ye que ye que chao lin shao
Chi yuan shi li duo que chao.
Tun que zhi gan zhuo que nao
Qie shi tou ju chang zi bao.
Feng huang wu se bai niao zun
Zhi yuan wei hai he bu yan? Shuang tan ye yao dei can rou
Tong zhuo san xing bu ken zhu.
Ke lian bai niao sheng zong heng
Sui you shen lin he chu su !
Hawks Eat Their Young, Then Steal From the Nests
Wild magpies, wild magpie nests at the tops of forests
Hawks rely on their physical strength to steal from the magpie nests.
Devour the magpie livers, and then peck at their brains
Steal food, steal houses, they naturally cover for each other.
Top one hundred male and female phoenixes with five-colored feathers
Why don’t they expose these hawks for the harm they have done? Silver vultures and wild sparrow hawks eat the meat-scrap leftovers
They peck and share the rotten smells of flesh, do not chase and kill their food
Such a pity so many other birds live and move about with ease
Although they have deep forests, they have no where to hide !
Notes:
Magpies: Chinese mythological symbols of joy and love, and used themselves as a bridge in the Legend of the Oxherd and Weaver Girl
Hawks: Birds of prey that are bold and eat flesh. Also used as a metaphor for the palace, inhumane predators.
Phoenix: Symbolic of the empress, female-bride-yin energy. Complementary to the dragon of the emperor-male-yang energy.