Send Off New Mayor Yang, Bound For Guozhou
送 杨 长 史 赴 果 州
褒 斜 不 容 宪
之 子 去 何 之？
鸟 道 一 千 里
猿 啼 十 二 时。
官 桥 祭 酒 客
山 水 女 郎 祠
别 后 同 明 月
君 应 听 子 规。
Song Yang Chang Si Fu Guo Zhou
Bao xie bu rong xian
Zhi zi qu he zhi ?
Niao dao yi qian li
Yuan ti shi er shi.
Guan qiao ji jiu ke
Shan shui nu lang ci.
Bie hou tong ming yue
Jun ying ting zi gui.
Send Off New Mayor Yang, Bound For Guozhou
From the northern to southern ends of a large mountain range, roads so narrow, your government curtained carriage cannot pass
How can you go off and travel this way?
Only birds can come and go for the next five hundred miles
Apes wail all day and all night long.
At the bridge house, we need to make ritual offerings of sacrificial wine for travelers
So little mountain water, give alms also to this woman’s ancestral temple.
Even after you leave, we can see the same moonlight
You should listen for, and heed the cuckoo’s calls for you to come home in the spring.
Notes:
Guozhou: A town locate in Sichuan Province.
Commentary:
Wang Wei’s friend has received imperial orders to report to a post far away and very remote. This was not a cherished government assignment to say the least. Just the travel to arrive at this city will be a travail. Wang Wei hopes that when his friend the traditional cuckoo calls, he will come back closer to home.