Lament of a Peasant Woman Living in the South of the River
吴中田妇叹
To our sorrow the rice ripens so late this year,
And soon we will see the frosty autumn wind blow.
今午粳稻熟苦迟 庶见霜风来几时。
Before the frosty wind the rain pours far and near,
The sickles rust and on the rake’s teeth mold will grow.
霜风来时雨如泻 杷头出菌镰生衣
Can we bear to see golden stalks flat in mud deep?
Though we weep our eyes dry, yet the rain never stops.
眼枯泪尽雨不尽 忍见黄穗卧青泥
In a straw shelter by the fields one month we sleep,
Once it clears, our cart comes back loaded with our crops
茅苫一月陇上宿 天晴获稻随车归
Sweaty, we carry them on our shoulders chafed red
To the market where at the price of chaff they’re sold.
汗流肩赪载人市 价贱乞与如糠粞
To pay the tax we sell the ox and pull down the shed
For fuel and next year’s hunger can be foretold.
卖牛纳税拆屋炊 虑浅不及明年饥
In cash instead of in kind the tax should be paid
So that tribesmen be bought o’er on northwest frontier.
官今要钱不要米 西北万里招羌儿
The peasants suffer more for wise reforms just made,
They would rather be drowned than live in such a year.
龚黄满朝人更苦 不如却作河伯妇