On the Road to Wuxi
无锡道中赋水车
翻 翻 联 联 衔 尾 鸦
荦 荦 确 确 蜕 骨 蛇。
分 畴 翠 浪 走 云 阵
剌 水 绿 针 抽稻 芽。
洞 庭 五 月 欲 飞 沙
鼍 鸣 窟 中 如 打 衙。
天 公 不 见 老 农 泣
唤 取 阿 香 推 雷 车。
Wu Xi Dao Zhong Fu Shui Che
Fan fan lian lian xian wei ya
Luo luo que que tui gu she.
Fen chou cui lang zou yun zhen
La shui lu zhen chou dao ya.
Dong ting wu yue yu fei sha
Tuo ming ku zhong ru da ya.
Tian gong bu jian lao nong qi
Huan qu e xiang tui lei dong.
On the Road to Wuxi, Writing About Waterwheels
Waterwheels turn over, connect and combine like crow’s tails
Very prominent and extraordinary like the bones of a molted snake.
Irrigated water separated into emerald green fields, moving in waves
like clouds in battlefield formations
New rice sprouts stick out of the water like needles.
Dongting Lake in May, drought causes the sand and dust to fly
Chinese alligators and birds find water holes, grunt like struck drums.
Rulers of Heaven do not see the tears of the farmers
They need to summon the rulers to go and fetch the thunder goddess with her cart.
Notes:
Wuxi: Located near Shanghai, southern Jiangsu Province, on the Dongting Lake.
Dongting Lake: A large flood basin for the Changjiang in northeastern Hunan Province.
