<Header>
<Author: 白居易>
<Title: 新樂府 賣炭翁 苦官市也>
<Format: 格式不明>
<Year: 2005>
<BookName: English Translation of 300 Tang Poems>
<Translator: 唐一鶴>
<TranslatedTitle: The Old Charcoal Pedlar>
<BookPage: 156-157>
<UsedPage: 2>
<Feature: 0>
<End Header>
<Poem>
賣炭翁，
伐薪燒炭南山中。
滿面塵灰煙火色，
兩鬢蒼蒼十指黑。
賣炭得錢何所營，
身上衣裳口中食。
可憐身上衣正單，
心憂炭賤願天寒。
夜來城上一尺雪，
曉駕炭車輾冰轍。
牛困人飢日已高，
市南門外泥中歇。
翩翩兩騎來是誰，
黃衣使者白衫兒。
手把文書口稱敕，
迴車叱牛牽向北。
一車炭，
千餘斤，
官使驅將惜不得。
半匹紅紗一丈綾，
繫向牛頭充炭直。
<End Poem>
<Translation>
The old charcoal pedlar cuts firewood and makes charcoal in southern mountains.
His temples are grey and ten fingers black; his ashy and dusty face looks sullen.
On what does he spend the money that from selling his charcoal he earns?
On food that he eats and on clothes that he is clad in.
What a poty, he’s wearing the clothes that are so thin and old;
But he’s worrying about the cheapness of charcoal and wishes the weather to become cold!
Happily, it snowed one foot deep outside the city last night.
Next morning he drobe his charcoal cart rolling along ruts with ice.
When the sun rose high, he was hungry and his ox was tried out.
The man and ox rested on the mud outside the bazaar in the south.
Two horsemen came tripping down; who were they?
Palace messengers in yellow jackets and white shirts were on the way.
A document in hand said to be an edict they were holding;
At his ox-cart back north to the palace he was shouting.
A cartload of charcoal weighing 1000-odd catties being the equivalent value of there metres stain and half a bolt red gauze to offset payment of tax on his ox.
<End Translation>