Evening Reading a Book on the Art of War
夜 读 兵 书
孤 灯 耿 霜 夕
穷 山 读 兵 书。
平 生 万 里 心
指 戈 王 前 驱。
战 死 士 所 有
耻 复 守 妻 孥。
成 功 亦 邂 逅
逆 料 政 自 疏。
陂 泽 号 饥 鸿
岁 月 欺 贫 儒。
叹 息 镜 中 面
安 得 长 肤 腴。
Ye Du Bing Shu
Gu deng geng shuang xi
Qiong shan du bing shu.
Ping sheng wan li xin
Zhi ge wang qian qu.
Zhan si shi suo you
Chi fu shou qi nu.
Cheng gong yi xie hou
Ni liao zheng zi shu.
Bei ze hao ji hong
Sui yue qi pin ru.
Tan xi jing zhong mian
An de chang fu yu?
Evening Reading a Book on the Art of War
Sunset solitary lantern, bright frost
Poor mountain hut, reading the book on the art of war.
All my life, heart-mind three thousand miles away
I could spur my horse to the front, carry a battle axe for the emperor.
My preference is to die an honorable death in combat
Shame on me for having duties to my wife and children.
Success often produced by chance
Should have predicted and anticipated natural and political chaos.
A number of hungry geese, stay within the margins of swamps and wetlands.
Cheated out of many years being a poor Confucian scholar.
Heave a sigh, my face in the middle of the mirror
How can I succeed with skin so wrinkled and fat.
Notes:
Lu Yu scored first in his class among the candidates taking the imperial exams. Because the man scoring second came from a wealthy and influential family, this situation was not to be tolerated. Lu was sent home.
