| 英譯： |
THE old man from Hsin-fêng is eighty-eight;
His head, temples, beard and eyebrows are all snow-white.
Helped by his great-great-grandson to the front of the store,
He still has his left arm but only the stump of his right one.
Asked how many years back he had broken his arm
And how it all happened,
He said that he hailed from Hsin-fêng district,
Born in time of peace, when war was a stranger…
He was used to hearing music in the theatres,
And knew nothing of banners, lances, bows and arrows.
Shortly after, during T'ien-pao's reign,
One from each family of three was conscripted.
Where were the men dispatched to?
In the fifth moon they were sent to Yunnan,
Ten-thousand li away. There, on the River Lu,
The plague came after the pepper flowers had fallen.
The huge army waded across the water as scalding as broth;
Two or three out of ten died even before the crossing.
Sad weeping broke out both north and south of the village,
When sons parted from parents and husbands from wives.
They all say that of thousands sent to conquer the barbarians,
Not a single one ever came back.
Then the old man was only twenty-four;
His name was on the rolls of the Ministry of War.
In the deep of night, without anyone knowing,
He broke his arm with a big stone.
No longer could he draw the bow or hold the banner,
And from then on he became exempt from Yunnan service.
The amputation was far from painless,
But all he wanted was to stay at home.
The arm has been broken these sixty years,
But his body remains, only one limb is disabled.
To this day, whenever the night is damp and cold,
He cannot sleep a wink till dawn because of the pain.
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But no regret;
he is happy he is still alive;
Had it not been so, he might have died on the Lu,
With soul afloat and bones ungathered,
A ghost in Yunnan full of yearning,
Mourned at his grave by thousands!
the words of the old man.
Listen to
"Have you not heard that Prime Minister Sung, of K'ai-yüan,
To curb militarism, never rewarded Merit achieved on the Emperor's marches?
And that Prime Minister Yang Kuo-chung of T'ien-pao
Sought permission to lead a campaign to the border
But aroused the people's anger before he succeeded?"
Ask the old man from Hsin-fêng.
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