[updated September 2022]
Long Northern Journey: No. 3
北 征
经 年 至 茅 屋
妻 子 衣 百 结。
恸 哭 松 声 回
悲 泉 共 幽 咽。
平 生 所 娇 儿
颜 色 白 胜 雪。
见 耶 背 面 啼
垢 腻 脚 不 袜。
床 前 两 小 女
补 绽 才 过 膝。
海 图 拆 波 涛
旧 绣 移 曲 折。
天 吴 及 紫 风
颠 倒 在 短 褐。
老 夫 情 怀 恶
呕 泄 卧 数 日。
那 无 襄 中 帛
救 汝 寒 凛 慄？
粉 黛 亦 解 苞
衾 裯 稍 罗 列。
瘦 妻 面 复 光
痴 女 头 自 栉。
学 母 无 不 为
晓 妆 随 手 抹。
移 时 施 朱 铅
狼 藉 画 眉 阔。
生 还 对 童 稚
似 欲 忘 饥 渴。
问 事 竟 挽 须
谁 能 即 嗔 喝？
翻 思 在 贼 愁
甘 受 杀 乱 聒。
新 归 且 慰 意
生 理 焉 得 说？
Bei Zheng
Jing nian zhi mao wu
Qi zi yi bai jie
Tong ku song sheng hui
Bei quan gong you yan
Ping sheng suo jiao er
Yan se bai sheng xue.
Jian ye bei mian ti
Gou ni jiao bu wa.
Chuang qian liang xiao nu
Bu zhan cai guo xi
Hai tu chai bo tao
Dan xiu yi qu she.
Tian wu ji zi feng
Dian dao zai duan he.
Lao fu qing huai wu
Ou xie wo shu ri
Na wu xiang zhong bo
Jiu ru han liu li?
Fen dai yi jie gou
Qin chou shao luo lie.
Shou qi mian fu guang
Chi nu tou zi zhi
Xue mu wu bu wei
Xiao zhuang sui shou ma.
Yi shi shi zhu qian
Lang ji hua mei kuo.
Sheng huan dui tong zhi
Si yu wang ji ke
Wen shi jing wan xu
Shei neng ji chen he?
Fan si zai zei chou
Gan shou sha luan guo
Xin gui qie wei yi
Sheng li yan dei shuo?
Long Northern Journey: No. 3
After a few years went back to my thatched house
Wife and children’s clothes patched and repaired.
Pine trees and cries of anguish echo each other
Secluded and muffled sorrows shared with spring waters.
All their lives my children needed to be spoiled
Skin color pale, whiter than snow.
Seeing me, younger ones hide their faces and cry
Bare feet, half shoes dirty and stained.
In front of their bed, two little girls
Able to patch and mend their clothes, but only come down to their knees.
My old government official clothes with an ocean scene of waves cut up to
provide patches
For a long time embroidery cut apart, patterns now bent and crooked.
Old mythological and spiritual animals no longer whole and matched
They are now upside-down on coarse and short peasant clothes.
Ancestors must have feelings of hate and disgust
For many days ill, lie down and throw up.
I did not come home empty-handed, here is some silk
Maybe it can save you from shivering in the cold?
Out comes my wife’s face powder and eyebrow pigment
Her fur coat will now have a soft lining.
Thin wife’s face again shines with light
Little daughters start to comb and preen.
Learn and imitate what their mother does
From daybreak they copy her hand, wiping off her make-up.
Then as she applies eyeliner and red lipstick
Girl’s eyebrows a mess, too heavy and wide of application.
I have survived to return to see these young darling children
So happy I have forgotten hunger and thirst.
How can I not answer their every question?
Still think of my anxieties about the wickedness enveloping the country.
It is too early for us to celebrate, the confusions of insurgency
not yet extinguished
Newly returned and for a while feel relief
Yet how can one explain what will happen in the future?
Commentary:
This poem is the third of five poems under the same title that describes very well how Du Fu and his family, as well as millions of Chinese families, faced poverty and hardships during this period of war and chaos. Touching details of family reunion and want.