Working In the Stables of Northern Nomad Horses
房 兵 曹 胡 马
胡 马 大 宛 名
锋 棱 瘦 骨 成。
竹 批 双 耳 峻
风 入 四 蹄 经。
所 向 无 空 阔
真 堪 托 死 生。
骁 腾 有 如 此
万 里 可 横 行。
Fang Bing Cao Hu Ma
Hu ma da wan ming
Feng leng shou gu cheng.
Zhu pi shuang er jun
Feng ru si ti jing.
Suo xiang wu kong kuo
Zhen kan tuo si sheng.
Xiao teng you ru ci
Wan li ke heng xing.
Working In the Stables of Northern Nomad Horses
Northern nomad horses named for, and from the Kingdom Da Wan
Moving, their bones produce thin and elegant lines.
Pair of ears high, steep and concave
Four small hooves run like the wind.
They can run without a concern through the vast and empty spaces
One can really trust them with your life.
Gallop with unbounded bravery
Travel thousands of miles from horizon to horizon.
Commentary:
These are the horses that carried Genghis Khan and his armies all the way across Asia to the gates of eastern Europe in the early thirteenth century.
The poem was written in 740 AD when Du was only twenty-eight years old.
