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何草不黃

何草不黃。
何日不行。
何人不將。
經營四方。
何草不玄。
何人不矜。
哀我征夫。
獨為匪民。
匪兕匪虎。
率彼曠野。
哀我征夫。
朝夕不暇。
有芃者孤。
率彼幽草。
有棧之車。
行彼周道。

HE CAO BU HUANG

Every plant is yellow;
Every day we march.
Every man is moving about,
Doing service in some quarter of the kingdom.
Every plant is purple;
Every man is torn from his wife.
Alas for us employed on these expeditions!
How are we alone dealt with as if we were not men?
We are not rhinoceroses, we are not tigers,
To be kept in these desolate wilds.
Alas for us employed on these expeditions!
Morning and night we have no leisure.
The long-tailed foxes,
May keep among the dark grass.
And our box-carts,
Keep moving along the great roads.
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IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia