白居易诗
Poems of Bai Juyi
Index
新丰折臂翁
Xinfeng's Broken-armed Old Man
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新丰老翁八十八 头鬓眉须皆似雪 玄孙扶向店前行 |
In Xingfeng, an old man of eighty-eight. His hair, his eyebrows, white as snow. Great-great-grandson helping him about his shop. |
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左臂凭肩右臂折 问翁臂折来几年 兼问致折何因缘 |
Left arm leans on child's shoulder. Right arm crippled. I ask how long his arm has been this way. I'm really asking how he could deserve this fate. |
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翁云贯属新丰县 生逢圣代无征战 惯听梨园歌管声 |
Old man says he's from here in Xinfeng county. Born into this immortal dynasty's peaceful days. Memories of playing his flute among the pear trees. |
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不识旗枪与弓箭 无何天宝大征兵 户有三丁点一丁 |
In childhood, never knew the banners and weapons of war. But then Heaven's Treasure levied massive troops. For every three men of age, one must serve. |
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点得驱将何处去 五月万里云南行 闻道云南有泸水 |
The chosen followed their generals to God knew where. Five months, three thousand miles, to Yunnan marched. Far, far to the south, they reached Lushui. |
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椒花落时瘴烟起 大军徒涉水如汤 未过十人二三死 |
As the pepper blossons fell, malaria came. Great army wading barefoot through soupy rivers. Before Lushui, three of their every ten were dead. |
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村南村北哭声哀 儿别爷娘夫别妻 皆云前后征蛮者 |
On both sides of the borders, villages wailed in grief. Parents lost their sons and women lost their men. On both sides, all said this was a madman's war. |
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千万人行无一回 是时翁年二十四 兵部牒中有名字 |
Countless soldiers marched away, never to return. Back then this old man was only twenty-four. He even got himself mentioned in dispatches. |
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夜深不敢使人知 偷将大石捶折臂 张弓簸旗俱不堪 |
But late one night, not daring to be seen, He crept away, smashed his own arm with a rock. Bows and arrows, waving flags, finally sick of them all. |
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从兹始免征云南 骨碎筋伤非不苦 且图拣退归乡土 |
Only so could he escape the great war in Yunnan. Broken bones, severed tendons, excruciating pain. But it was enough for them to send him home. |
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此臂折来六十年 一肢虽废一身全 至今风雨阴寒夜 |
So his arm has been crippled these sixty years. One limb may be wasted to keep a life whole. Yet this choice has made his life a long cold night. |
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直到天明痛不眠 痛不眠 终不悔 且喜老身今独在 |
The pain still keeps him up till almost daybreak. Sleepless pain. Endless regret. Still, he's happy just to be alive. |
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不然当时泸水头 身死魂孤骨不收 应作云南望乡鬼 |
If he hadn't made his choice at Lushui, He'd be dead, soul-orphaned, arm-bone whole. Better a lesser evil and a long journey home. |
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万人冢上哭呦呦 老人言 君听取 |
The graves of tens of thousands have their mourners. This old man's words Now in your lordships' ears. |
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君不闻开元 宰相宋开府 不赏边功防黩武 |
You don't listen to the peaceful emperor. Prime minister now simply runs the court, Sidelining those who speak against unnecessary war. |
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又不闻天宝 宰相杨国忠 欲求恩幸立边功 |
Can you not remember Heaven's Treasure? Oh, he was loyal to his country, too. He strove for kindness and a worthy empire. |
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边功未立生人怨 请问新丰折臂翁 |
A failing of the empire gives birth to regret. Just ask Xinfeng's broken-armed old man. |
-- 白居易
废话
We need some back-story here. This poem, from 810, looks back on the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) and at Bai Juyi's own days of rising war. The emperor that brought about the rebellion through incompetence was Xuanzong. He fell into the arms of his favorite concubine and took his country down with him. Xuanzong's concubine was Yang Fei, from that same family as Bai Juyi's and Du Fu's wives. Xuanzong's biggest error was appointing a terrible prime minister, Li Linfu. Li's time was known as the Tianbao, Heaven's Treasure, Era.
One of Li Linfu's mistakes was to send a big expedition south to subdue Yunnan. This would be like conscripting every draft-aged man in New York and marching them barefoot down to the bayous of Lousiana to subdue the Cajuns. It did not turn out well. Worse, it weakened the empire to the point that made the An Lushan Rebellion possible.
When Li Linfu died, Xuanzong appointed Yang Guozhong as prime minister. Yang Guozhong was Yang Fei's brother. Yang was weaker and stupider than Li. Xuanzong was still in bed with Yang Fei. An Lushan revolted. And his revolt brought Xuanzong and his heir, Suzong, to their deathbeds. The revolt ended only in the second year of the Emperor Taizong, in 763.