Du Fu: The War Chariots A-Rolling 杜甫 車轔轔 馬蕭蕭 行人弓箭各在腰 Poem by Frank Yue

- Du Fu (Tang Dynasty)
- Translated by Frank C Yue

The war chariots a-rolling,
Horses neighing,
Men marching,
Their bows and arrows over hips hanging;
Alongside the soldiers running -
The parents, wives and children, raising
Dust billows the Xiangyang Bridge obscuring!

They stamp their feet, hold onto the men's clothing,
The road the great crowds clogging...
Their loud, plaintive cries
Pierce the clouds high in the skies!
A passer-by asks of the men -
Their reply: Men were conscripted often then.
15-year-olds were sent north,
To the Yellow River they marched forth;
Men in their 40's were led away
To farm the western frontier where they would stay.
Young boys' hair was done up by village elders
Who sent them off as adults;
When they return with white hair
They may be, even then,
Sent off to the border again!
O! The FRONTIER, so much blood has flowed it could form a sea;
Still, the Emperor wants to expand his territory!

Have you not heard? (Let this be known -)
East of the Han mountains countless counties indeed
Are now desolate, the fields overgrown
With thorns and weeds.
Even with strong women the fields tilling,
Little can the lands be producing.
Though our men are brave, full of devotion,
Like chicken and dogs they're driven ever.
To ask them questions, even if l wanted,
The conscripts would never
Dare to have their grievances vented.
For instance, just in Winter this year,
None of the soldiers is back here!
But urgent payment of taxes the officials demand;
From where could the peasants get the money as commanded?
It's far better to have daughters, they believe,
Than sons -the daughters may marry some neighbours,
But sons will be buried, wild grass beneath.

Have you not seen this (more and more) ?
By Qinghai's lake shore,
Since a long, long time ago,
Left unattended are the white bones cold;
And the cries of ghosts, new and old,
May be heard, again and again,
Through the mournful sounds of falling rain!



"兵車行"
- 唐代 杜甫

車轔轔，馬蕭蕭，行人弓箭各在腰。
耶孃妻子走相送，塵埃不見咸陽橋。(耶娘 一作："爺")
牽衣頓足攔道哭，哭聲直上幹雲霄。
道傍過者問行人，行人但云點行頻。
或從十五北防河，便至四十西營田。
去時里正與裹頭，歸來頭白還戍邊。
邊庭流血成海水，武皇開邊意未已。
君不聞漢家山東二百州，千村萬落生荊杞。
縱有健婦把鋤犁，禾生隴畝無東西。
況復秦兵耐苦戰，被驅不異犬與雞。
長者雖有問，役夫敢申恨？
且如今年冬，未休關西卒。
縣官急索租，租稅從何出？
信知生男惡，反是生女好。
生女猶得嫁比鄰，生男埋沒隨百草。
君不見，青海頭，古來白骨無人收。
新鬼煩冤舊鬼哭，天陰雨溼聲啾啾！