Lu Yu: Reading Books

Reading Books

读 书
放 翁 白 首 归 剡 曲
寂 寞 衡 门 书 满 屋。
藜 羹 麦 饭 冷 不 尝
要 足 平 生 五 车 读。
校 雠 心 苦 谨 涂 乙
吟 讽 声 悲 杂 歌 哭。
三 苍 奇 字 已 杀 青
九 译 旁 行 方 著 录。
有 时 达 旦 不 灭 灯
急 雪 打 窗 闻 簌 簌。
倘 年 七 十 尚 一 纪
坠 典 断 编 真 可 续。
客 来 不 怕 笑 书 痴
终 胜 牙 签 新 未 触。
Du Shu

Fang weng bai shou gui yan qu
Ji mo heng men shu man wu.
Li geng mai fan leng bu chang
Yao zu ping sheng wu che du.

Jiao chou xin ku jin tu yi
Yin feng sheng bei za ge ku.
San cang qi zi yi sha qing
Jiu yi pang xing fang zhu lu.

You shi da dan bu mie deng
Ji xue da chuang wen su su.
Tang nian qi shi shang yi ji
Zhui dian duan bian zhen ke xu.
Ke lai bu pa xiao shu chi
Zhong sheng ya qian xin wei chu.

 

Reading Books

This free old man with white hair returned to Yan Qu
Living lonely and quiet, hollow doors with a house full of books.
Simple grain and lamb quarters soup, cold and untasted
Like Tao Yuanming it is important for me to read five carts of books.

Collating and editing texts, heart-mind careful when changing or deleting
Reciting aloud, satire and melancholy weakens one’s weeping out the songs.
Recopy several sacred texts, unusual words preserved on cured bamboo
From afar, some books need to be translated before being interpreted.

Have the time now to work all night without extinguishing the lanterns
Sudden snow, hear wind rustling outside a dozen windows.
If I can live to the age of seventy I will write and copy more
And time to weave back together the broken books.
Visitors arrive, they laugh and mock me, call me stupid
Yet I am the one to sign my name into each book read, the young have yet to touch.

 

Notes:

Tao Yuanming:  (365-427 AD) Famous Eastern Jin Dynasty poet. His work and biographical information can also be found on this website.

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