Autumn Harvest Songs
秋 获 歌
墙 头 累 累 柿 子 黄
人 家 秋 获 争 登 场。
长 碓 捣 珠 照 地 光
大 甑 炊 玉 连 村 香。
万 人 墙 进 输 官 仓
仓 吏 炙 冷 不 暇 尝。
讫 事 散 去 喜 若 狂
醉 卧 相 枕 官 道 傍。
数 年 斯 民 厄 凶 荒
转 徙 沟 壑 殣 相 望。
县 吏 亭 长 如 饿 狼
妇 女 怖 死 儿 童 僵。
岂 知 皇 天 赐 丰 穰
亩 收 一 钟 富 万 箱。
我 愿 邻 曲 谨 盖 藏
缩 衣 节 食 勤 耕 桑。
追 思 食 不 厌 糟 糠
勿 使 水 旱 忧 尧 汤。
Qiu Huo Ge
Qiang tou lei lei shi zi huang
Ren jia qiu huo zheng deng chang.
Chang dui dao zhu zhao di guang
Da zeng chui yu lian cun xiang.
Wan ren qiang jin shu guan cang
Cang li zhi leng bu xia chang.
Qi shi san qu xi ruo kuang
Zui wo xiang zhen guan dao bang.
Shu nian si min e xiong huang
Zhuan xi gou he jin xiang wang.
Xian li ting chang ru e lang
Fu nu bu si er tong jiang.
Qi zhi huang tian ci feng rang
Mu shou yi zhong fu wan xiang.
Wo yuan lin qu lin qu jin gai cang
Suo yi jie shi qin geng sang.
Zhui si shi bu yan zao kang
Wu shi shui han you yao shang.
Autumn Harvest Songs
Persimmon treetops along a wall thick and strong
Human households in autumn compete for spaces on the threshing grounds.
Long stone mortars pound the rice kernels, winnowed into shiny pearls
Cooking with large rice steamers fills the village with fragrances.
Like a wall of thousands, they take their grain to the government storehouse
Storehouse petty officials too busy to eat their cold broiled meat.
The accomplished people go back scattered and wildly happy
The drunks lie down on their pillows close to the government highways.
Some years the people go hungry from unlucky turns of fate
They migrate away to watered ravines to avoid the tax collectors.
County officials roam like starving wolves
Women afraid to death, children numb with fear.
Can we know if Heaven will bestow us with rice plants of plenty
To fill thousands of storage containers from our rich acres.
I implore the neighbors to prudently save and hide the surplus
Do not buy festival clothes, continue their mulberry cultivation.
Remember the times when we were satisfied to eat the chaff
Do not use too much water, Emperor Yao was destroyed by a multi-year drought.
Notes:
Emperor Yao: (2356-2555 BC) One of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors whose rule was during the Great Flood. He if often used as a model for imperial morality and intelligence.