[updated September 2022]
Begging For Food
乞 食
饥 来 驱 我 去
不 知 竟 何 之。
行 行 至 斯 里
叩 门 拙 言 辞。
主 人 解 余 意
遗 赠 副 虚 期。
谈 谐 终 日 夕
觞 至 辄 倾 杯。
情 欣 新 知 欢
言 咏 遂 赋 诗。
感 子 漂 母 惠
愧 我 非 韩 才。
衔 戢 知 何 谢？
冥 报 以 相 贻。
Qi Shi
Ji lai qu wo qu
Bu zhi jing he zhi.
Xing xing zhi si li
Kou men zhuo yan ci.
Zhu ren jie yu yi
Wei zeng fu xu qi.
Tan xie zhong ri xi
Shang zhi zhe qing bei.
Qing xin xin zhi huan
Yan yong sui fu shi.
Gan zi piao mu hui
Kui wo fei han cai.
Xian ji zhi he xie ?
Ming bao yi xiang yi.
Begging for Food
Famine arrives, have to leave this area
But I do not know where I can go.
Walk for a while until I reach another neighborhood
Knock on a door, my clumsy words of resignation.
The owner of the house knows my intention, divides up his surplus
Gives to me as a gift, a modest ration.
He wants me to stay until sunset
Sharing cups of wine till each becomes empty.
Joyful and happy emotions with a new friend
Compose poetry to reveal these words.
I feel like I need to thank you like Han Xin
Ashamed I am not of Han’s ability.
How I can get these words of gratitude out of my mouth?
Till death I will be thankful for your gift.
Notes:
Han Xin: A Han dynasty man, very poor and hungry. Tried to catch fish to avoid starvation, but instead a washwoman fed him. He promised to repay her somehow. Later he became the emperor and asked his attendants to find this lady so he could repay his debt to her.
Commentary:
This poem illustrates the serious poverty Tao Yuanming lived with during the last half of his life. Intelligent and talented enough to be the emperor, he wound up sticking to his moral principles and thereby nearly starved to death. After the family house burned to the ground (see the upcoming poem, Mid-December, Year of the Monkey Fire), Tao experienced chronic and serious poverty.