| Altra traduzione inglese da Chinese Poems. |
BĪNG CHĒ XÍNG | SONG OF THE WAGONS (or BALLAD OF THE ARMY CARTS) |
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chē lín lín | The wagons rumble and roll, |
mǎ xiāo xiāo | The horses whinny and neigh, |
xíng rén gōng jiàn gè zài yāo | The conscripts each have bows and arrows at their waists. |
yē niáng qī zǐ zǒu xiāng sòng | Their parents, wives and children run to see them off, |
chén āi bú jiàn xián yáng qiáo | So much dust's stirred up, it hides the Xianyang bridge. |
qiān yī dùn zú lán dào kū | They pull clothes, stamp their feet and, weeping, bar the way, |
kū shēng zhí shàng gān yún xiāo | The weeping voices rise straight up and strike the clouds. |
dào páng guò zhě wèn xíng rén | A passer-by at the roadside asks a conscript why, |
xíng rén dàn yún diǎn xíng pín | The conscript answers only that drafting happens often. |
huò cóng shí wǔ běi fáng hé | "At fifteen, many were sent north to guard the river, |
biàn zhì sì shí xī yíng tián | Even at forty, they had to till fields in the west. |
qù shí lǐ zhèng yǔ guǒ tóu | When we went away, the elders bound our heads, |
guī lái tóu bái huán shù biān | Returning with heads white, we're sent back off to the frontier. |
biān tíng liú xuè chéng hǎi shuǐ | At the border posts, shed blood becomes a sea, |
wǔ huáng kāi biān yì wèi yǐ | The martial emperor's dream of expansion has no end. |
jūn bù wén hàn jiā shān dōng èr bǎi zhōu | Have you not seen the two hundred districts east of the mountains, |
qiān cūn wàn luò shēng jīng qǐ | Where thorns and brambles grow in countless villages and hamlets? |
zòng yǒu jiàn fù bǎ chú lí | Although there are strong women to grasp the hoe and the plough, |
hé shēng lǒng mǔ wú dōng xī | They grow some crops, but there's no order in the fields. |
kuàng fù qín bīng nài kǔ zhàn | What's more, we soldiers of Qin withstand the bitterest fighting, |
bèi qū bú yì quǎn yǔ jī | We're always driven onwards just like dogs and chickens. |
zhǎng zhě suī yǒu wèn | Although an elder can ask me this, |
yì fū gǎn shēn hèn | How can a soldier dare to complain? |
qiě rú jīn nián dōng | Even in this winter time, |
wèi xiū guān xī zú | Soldiers from west of the pass keep moving. |
xiàn guān jí suǒ zū | The magistrate is eager for taxes, |
zū shuì cóng hé chū | But how can we afford to pay? |
xìn zhī shēng nán è | We know now having boys is bad, |
fǎn shì shēng nǚ hǎo | While having girls is for the best; |
shēng nǚ yóu dé jià bǐ lín | Our girls can still be married to the neighbours, |
shēng nán mái mò suí bǎi cǎo | Our sons are merely buried amid the grass. |
jūn bú jiàn qīng hǎi tóu | Have you not seen on the border of Qinghai, |
gǔ lái bái gǔ wú rén shōu | The ancient bleached bones no man's gathered in? |
xīn guǐ fán yuàn jiù guǐ kū | The new ghosts are angered by injustice, the old ghosts weep, |
tiān yīn yǔ shī shēng jiū jiū | Moistening rain falls from dark heaven on the voices' screeching." |