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From “Chinese Poems”
Anonymous—First Century B. C.
TO be an orphan, | |
| To be fated to be an orphan, | |
| How bitter is this lot! | |
| When my father and mother were alive | |
| I used to ride in a fine carriage | 5 |
| Driving four horses; | |
| But when my father and mother died, | |
| My brother and his wife made of me a merchant. | |
| In the South I travelled to the Nine Rivers | |
| And in the East as far as Ch’i and Lu. | 10 |
| At the end of the year when I came home | |
| I dared not tell them what I had suffered— | |
| Of the lice and vermin in my head, | |
| Of the dust in my face and eyes. | |
| My brother told me to get ready the dinner; | 15 |
| My sister-in-law told me to see after the horses. | |
| I was always going up into the hall | |
| And running down again to the parlor. | |
| My tears fell like a shower of rain. | |
| In the morning they sent me to draw water; | 20 |
| I didn’t get back till night-fall. | |
| My hands were all sore, | |
| And I hadn’t any shoes; | |
| I walked the cold earth | |
| Treading on the thorns and brambles. | 25 |
| As I stopped to pull out the thorns, | |
| How bitter my heart was!— | |
| My tears fell and fell | |
| And I went on sobbing and sobbing. | |
| In winter I have no great-coat, | 30 |
| Nor in summer thin clothes. | |
| It is no pleasure to be alive; | |
| I had rather quickly leave this earth | |
| And go beneath the Yellow Springs. | |
| The April winds blow | 35 |
| And the grass grows so green: | |
| In the third month, silk worms and mulberries; | |
| In the sixth month, the melon-harvest. | |
| I went out with the melon-cart, | |
| And just as I was coming home | 40 |
| The melon-cart turned over. | |
| The people who came to help me were few, | |
| But the people who ate the melons were many. | |
| All they left me was the stalks; | |
| I took them home as fast as I could. | 45 |
| My brother and sister-in-law were harsh; | |
| They asked me all sorts of awful questions. | |
| Why does every one in the village blame me? | |
| I want to write a letter and send it | |
| To my father and mother under the earth | 50 |
| And tell them I can’t go on any longer | |
| Living with my brother and my sister-in-law. | |
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