Asking what happened, scrambling to pull my
whiskers
88 who could glare or scold them just then?
Du Fu - 5
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Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Journey North 337 Wherever the rain and dew brings moisture fruits form, the sweet and the bitter alike.
I thought of Peach Blossom Spring, so remote,1 44 increasing sighs over the blunders of my life.
From the rises I gazed to Fu?
s Altar,2 which emerged and sank away as I crossed valley and cliff.
I had already gone on to the shores of a stream, 48 and my servant was still in the tips of the trees.
3 Owls screeched in the brown mulberry trees, ground squirrels folded hands by their scattered dens.
In the depths of night I passed through a battlefield, 52 where the cold moon shone on white bones.
An army of a million at Tong Pass?
back then they scattered so swiftly!
4 In consequence half the folk of Qin 56 were destroyed and made into non-human things.
5 What?
s more I fell into the dust of the Hu, coming home, my hair is all streaked with gray.
A year has passed, and I reach my thatched cottage,6 60 wife and children?
s clothes patched in a hundred places.
Stirred to weeping, the sound of pines replies, and mournful streams join our secret sobs.
The son whom I always have doted on, 64 his complexion is whiter than snow.
1 *Peach Blossom Spring.
2 Fu?
s Altar, by legend constructed by Duke Wen of Qin, was a mound that marked Fuzhou, where Du Fu?
s family was located.
3 That is, the servant is behind him, higher up the slope.
4 This refers to the disastrous defeat of the hastily assembled imperial army outside of Tong Pass.
5 That is, ghosts, not having been buried with the proper ceremonies.
6 That is, a year since he left his family in Fuzhou and went back to Chang?
an, at the point when it fell to An Lushan?
s forces.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 338 ?
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Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Journey North 339 Seeing his dad, he turns his face away weeping, filthy and greasy, no socks on his feet.
By the bed my two young daughters 68 have a patchwork that goes just below their knees.
An ocean scene with its waves torn, a former embroidery, its sequence of panels shifted.
1 Tianwu and the Purple Phoenix2 72 were upside down on their short tunics.
I, the old man, was feeling bad and lay several days with vomiting and diarrhea.
Of course I had money in my purse 76 to save you from shivering in the cold.
I also undid packets of powder and mascara, sheets and blankets were amply arrayed.
A light returned to my gaunt wife?
s face, 80 and the innocent girls combed their own hair.
They imitated their mother in everything, with morning make-up smeared on liberally.
After some time they put on rouge 84 and painted wide brows helter-skelter.
Back alive, I face these children and almost forget my hunger and thirst.
Asking what happened, scrambling to pull my whiskers 88 who could glare or scold them just then? 1 That is, an old embroidery with a coherent sequence of scenes has been cut up into pieces for the girls? clothes. 2 Tianwu was an ocean god. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 340 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 92 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 96 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 100 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 104 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 108 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 112 ? ? ? ? ? ? Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Journey North 341 I think back when I was among the rebels and now gladly accept all this chaos and noise. Being newly returned comforts me for a while? 92 how could I bring myself to discuss our livelihood? His Majesty still is coated with exile? s dust, how soon will we stop the training of troops? I look up and observe Heaven? s aspect changing, 96 sensing how baleful vapors clear all around. From the Northwest comes a shadowy wind,1 somberly following the Uighurs. Their king wants them to serve and aid, 100 by custom they excel in the cavalry charge. They have sent us five thousand troops, and driven along ten thousand horses. Of this sort a few are valuable,2 104 all the world admires their resolute bravery. They always use ? hawk-bounders,? 3 that smash the enemy swifter than an arrow. His Highness? s heart prefers to wait, doing nothing, 108 all spirit is virtually lost in current policy debates. Luoyang can be taken as easily as pointing to the palm,4 the Western Capital is not even worth seizing. The Imperial Army begs to strike deeply, 112 their stored up sharpness should be unleashed en masse. 1 This is the emanation of Suzong? s Uighur allies. 2 This can be read politely (? even a few are valuable? ) or less politely (? the fewer the better. ? ) 3 Xiao Difei suggests that this refers to the cavalry. 4 ? Pointing to the palm? is a set phrase for obviousness or ease. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 342 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 116 ? ?
Asking what happened, scrambling to pull my whiskers 88 who could glare or scold them just then? 1 That is, an old embroidery with a coherent sequence of scenes has been cut up into pieces for the girls? clothes. 2 Tianwu was an ocean god. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 340 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 92 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 96 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 100 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 104 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 108 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 112 ? ? ? ? ? ? Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM Journey North 341 I think back when I was among the rebels and now gladly accept all this chaos and noise. Being newly returned comforts me for a while? 92 how could I bring myself to discuss our livelihood? His Majesty still is coated with exile? s dust, how soon will we stop the training of troops? I look up and observe Heaven? s aspect changing, 96 sensing how baleful vapors clear all around. From the Northwest comes a shadowy wind,1 somberly following the Uighurs. Their king wants them to serve and aid, 100 by custom they excel in the cavalry charge. They have sent us five thousand troops, and driven along ten thousand horses. Of this sort a few are valuable,2 104 all the world admires their resolute bravery. They always use ? hawk-bounders,? 3 that smash the enemy swifter than an arrow. His Highness? s heart prefers to wait, doing nothing, 108 all spirit is virtually lost in current policy debates. Luoyang can be taken as easily as pointing to the palm,4 the Western Capital is not even worth seizing. The Imperial Army begs to strike deeply, 112 their stored up sharpness should be unleashed en masse. 1 This is the emanation of Suzong? s Uighur allies. 2 This can be read politely (? even a few are valuable? ) or less politely (? the fewer the better. ? ) 3 Xiao Difei suggests that this refers to the cavalry. 4 ? Pointing to the palm? is a set phrase for obviousness or ease. Unauthenticated Download Date | 10/1/17 7:36 AM 342 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 116 ? ?
