| 英譯： |
These gray-headed women of K'uei-chou Are still single at forty or
fifty. There is even less hope of marriage in these war-troubled times;
They are doomed to a life of bitter tears and long sighs. Local custom
makes men sit and women stand; Men manage the home while the
women work for its support. Eight or nine women out of ten carry
gathered faggots home To sell for money to maintain the household.
A virgin's two-knotted hairdress falling over their shoulders even in old
age, They wear wildflowers and mountains leaves fastened by silver
hairpins. They spend their strength climbing the heights to the market;
They risk their lives to work at the salt wells for profit. Neither orna-
ments nor cosmetics can cover the traces of tears Brought about by these
rocky lands-too barren, too cold, too remote. If one should say that all
women of the Wu Mountains are ugly, How is it that the village of
Wang Chao-chun is just a short distance north?
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