Early Morning Meal Cooking in Gaodian
早 炊 高 店
雨 过 溪 山 十 倍 明
乍 晴 风 日 一 番 清。
白 鸥 池 沼 菰 蒲 影
红 枣 村 墟 鸡 犬 生。
肉 食 坐 曹 良 愧 死
襄 衣 行 都 亦 劳 生。
不 堪 有 七 今 成 九
伧 父 年 来 老 更 伧。
Zao Chui Gao Dian
Yu guo xi shan shi bei ming
Zha qing feng ri yi fan qing.
Bai ou chi zhao gu pu ying
Hong zao cun xu ji quan sheng.
Rou shi zuo cao liang kui si
Xiang yi xing dou yi lao sheng.
Bu kan you qi jin cheng jiu
Cang fu nian lai lao geng cang.
Early Morning Meal Cooking in Gaodian
Passing rainfall, mountains and streams now in a ten-fold brightness
Such a sunny and wind-produced clear day.
White gulls attracted to natural ponds of wild rice and cattails
Village of jujube trees, chicken and dog sounds abound.
Good people deathly ashamed of sitting about eating meat
Carrying travel clothes in a small bag they emerge.
In the past, seven reasons not to work, today we have nine
For years rude men have arrived, nowadays ever more so.
Notes:
Last quatrain criticized the spoiled and lazy drones who live inside the palace.
The final couplet refers to Ji Kang (223-262 AD), a writer, poet, musician and Daoist philosopher of the Three Kingdoms period. Famous for writing music for the guqin, a multi-stringed instrument. He was also a member of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. One of his most well-known writing is a piece called, “Essay on Nourishing Life”.