University of Virginia Library

樂府 杜甫 哀王孫

長安城頭頭白烏, 夜飛延秋門上呼;
又向人家啄大屋, 屋底達官走避胡。
金鞭斷折九馬死, 骨肉不待同馳驅。
腰下寶玦青珊瑚, 問之不肯道姓名,
但道困苦乞為奴。
已經百日竄荊棘, 身上無有完肌膚。
高帝子孫盡隆準, 龍種自與常人殊。
豺狼在邑龍在野, 王孫善保千金軀。
不敢長語臨交衢, 且為王孫立斯須。
昨夜東風吹血腥, 東來橐駝滿舊都。
朔方健兒好身手, 昔何勇銳今何愚?
竊聞天子已傳位, 聖德北服南單于。
花門剺面請雪恥, 慎勿出口他人狙。
哀哉王孫慎勿疏, 五陵佳氣無時無。

Folk-song-styled-verse
Du Fu A SONG OF A PRINCE DEPOSED

Along the wall of the Capital a white-headed crow
Flies to the Gate where Autumn Enters and screams there in the night,
Then turns again and pecks among the roofs of a tall mansion
Whose lord, a mighty mandarin, has fled before the Tartars,
With his golden whip now broken, his nine war-horses dead
And his own flesh and bone scattered to the winds....
There's a rare ring of green coral underneath the vest
Of a Prince at a street-corner, bitterly sobbing,
Who has to give a false name to anyone who asks him -
Just a poor fellow, hoping for employment.
A hundred days' hiding in grasses and thorns
Show on his body from head to foot.
But, since their first Emperor, all with hooknoses,
These Dragons look different from ordinary men.
Wolves are in the palace now and Dragons are lost in the desert --
O Prince, be very careful of your most sacred person!
I dare not address you long, here by the open road,
Nor even to stand beside you for more than these few moments.
Last night with the spring-wind there came a smell of blood;
The old Capital is full of camels from the east.
Our northern warriors are sound enough of body and of hand --
Oh, why so brave in olden times and so craven now?
Our Emperor, we hear, has given his son the throne
And the southern border-chieftains are loyally inclined
And the Huamen and Limian tribes are gathering to avenge us.
But still be careful-keep yourself well hidden from the dagger.
Unhappy Prince, I beg you, be constantly on guard --
Till power blow to your aid from the Five Imperial Tombs.