Early Drought
悯 早
鸣 鸠 唤 雨 知 唤 晴
水 车 夜 啼 声 彻 明。
乖 龙 懒 睡 未 渠 醒
阿 香 推 热 呼 不 应。
下 田 半 湿 高 舍 坼
幼 秧 欲 焦 老 差 碧。
书 生 所 向 便 四 壁：
卖 浆 逢 寒 步 逢 棘。
还 家 浪 作 饱 饭 谋
买 田 三 岁 两 无 秋。
一 门 手 指 百 二 十
万 斛 量 不 尽 穷 愁。
小 儿 察 我 惨 不 乐
旋 沽 村 酒 聊 相 酌。
更 哦 子 美 醉 时 歌
“焉 知 饿 死 填 沟 壑。”
水 车 哑 哑 止 复 作。
Han Zao
Ming jiu huan yu zhi huan qing
Shui che ye ti sheng che ming.
Guai long lan shui wei qu xing
E xiang tui re hu bu ying.
Xia tian ban shi gao she che
You yang yu jiao lao cha bi.
Shu sheng suo xiang bian si bi:
Mai jiang feng han bu feng ji.
Huan jia lang zuo bao fan mou
Mai tian san sui liang wu qiu.
Yi men shou zhi bai er shi
Wan hu liang bu jin qiong chou.
Xiao er cha wo can bu le
Xuan gu cun jiu liao xiang zhuo.
Geng e zi mei “Zui Shi Ge”:
Yan zhi e si tian gou he.
Shui che ya ya zhi fu zuo.
Early Drought
Cooing turtledoves usually call out for rain, but we receive only clear skies
Day and night the waterwheel sounds penetrate the silence.
Sinister and lazy water dragon asleep, has yet to awake and sober up
Thunder and lightning deity too overheated to push our answered prayers and their energies down to earth.
Half of the lower fields are now wet, earth crust cracked open and tessellated
Young sprouts scorched and brittle, hope is colored a bluish-green.
These poor but literate people are like me, look around with no way to support their families
They try to sell hot water by walking through the cold and thistles.
Wander back home, plan to eat anything that will fill me up
Bought my field three years ago, but two years without an autumn harvest.
Behind my door are hands that support one hundred and twenty fingers
Estimate about ten thousand empty food jars, so much poverty and sorrow in our region.
The small children examine me, tragedy instead of happiness
One of them slips out to buy some village wine to cheer me up.
Softly chant Du Fu’s “Song of Drunken Times”
Realize many are dying of hunger, enough to fill a big pond.
Arise again to the sounds of a creaking waterwheel.
Notes:
Du Fu’s “Song of Drunken Times”: This poem was previously published on this website under Du Fu, on 22 October 2017.