Bai Juyi: Ask Liu the Nineteenth

 

[updated September 2022]

Ask Liu the Nineteenth

问 刘 十 九
绿 蚁 新 醅 酒
红 泥 小 火 炉。                                                                                                    晚 来 天 欲 雪
能 饮 一 杯 无?
Wen Liu Shi Jiu

Lu yi xin pei jiu
Hong ni xiao huo lu.                                                                                                               Wan lai tian yu xue
Neng yin yi bei wu?

Ask Liu Nineteenth

Fresh, unfiltered green-ant wine
Warmed on a small, red brick stove.                                                                      Evening arrives, the sky expecting snow
No matter what, can we drink one cup?

 

Notes:

Liu the Nineteenth: A friend of Bai. Nineteenth means that he is the nineteenth male to be born in his extended family.

Green-ant wine: A rice and yeast fermented wine that has small rice pieces floating on the top. According to some, these pieces remind them of small ant eggs.