by Bao Zhao (414? - 466)
Translation by Arthur Waley (1889 - 1969)

The Red Hills
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文) 
Red hills lie athwart us as a menace in the west,
And fiery mountains glare terrible in the south.
The body burns, the head aches and throbs:
If a bird light here, its soul forthwith departs.
Warm springs
Pour from cloudy pools
And hot smoke issues between the rocks.
The sun and moon are perpetually obscured:
The rain and dew never stay dry.
There are red serpents a hundred feet long,
And black snakes ten girths round.
The sand-spitters shoot their poison at the sunbeams:
The flying insects are ill with the shifting glare.
The hungry monkeys dare not come down to eat:
The morning birds dare not set out to fly.
At the Ching river many die of poison:
Crossing the Lu one is lucky if one is only ill.
Our living feet walk on dead ground:
Our high wills surmount the snares of Fate.
The Spear-boat General got but little honour:
The Wave-subduer met with scant reward.
If our Prince still grudges the things that are easy to give,
Can he hope that his soldiers will give what is hardest to give?

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Confirmed with A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems translated by Arthur Waley, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1919

Notes from this edition:
Line 20 - "Spear-boat General" : Hou Yen (first century B. C.).
Line 21 - "Wave-subduer" : "Ma Yüan (first century A. D.)"
Line 22 - "things that are easy to give" - i.e., rewards and titles
Line 23 - "what is hardest to give" - i.e., life

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2022-01-30
Line count: 23
Word count: 184