| 英譯： |
THE red-yarn rug
is woven With exquisite silk from skeins of the finest Cocoons, which have been boiled in lucid water.
Choice silk and yarn are dyed blue and scarlet;
The red yarn is dyed redder than blossoms.
The rug is woven to be spread in the P'i-hsiang Hall,
Whose width is over ten chang,
And the rug, when finished, covers this space exactly.
The colourful silk is downy and perfumed;
With its soft yarn and delicate pattern, It seems unable to bear the slightest weight.
As beautiful ladies step on it and sing and dance,
Traces of their footsteps vanish as they pass.
The rugs of Tai-yüan are coarse and stiff,
And those of Ch'êng-tu, thin and chilling in their design,
Unlike this one, which is soft and warm.
In the tenth moon of every year An order is sent to Hsüan-chou,
Whose prefect sees to it that the weaving is doubly strong,
Saying that he does his best as a loyal subject.
A hundred workmen carry the rug into the palace,
The yarn is so heavy that it can't be rolled.
"Prefect of Hsüan-chou, do you realize
One thousand liang of silk are needed For a single chang of rug?
The ground does not feel cold, but men need warmth.
Why take men's clothes to cover the ground?"
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