蔡琰·《胡笳十八拍·第十三拍》英译

不谓残生兮却得旋归，抚抱胡儿兮泣下沾衣。

汉使迎我兮四牡騑騑，胡儿号兮谁得知。

与我生死兮逢此时，愁为子兮日无光辉。

焉得羽翼兮将汝归，一步一远兮足难移。

魂消影绝兮恩爱遗，十有三拍兮弦急调悲，肝肠搅刺兮人莫我知。 

Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute     

Cai Yan        

Song 13

I had never dreamed I would ever go home again;

I caress, I embrace my nomad sons, the flowing tears soak our clothes.

To escort me the envoy from China has a team of horses,

My nomad children wail till they lose their voices alas! who could have known

That while we still lived there would come a time that would separate us like death?

My longing for my children makes the sun lose its light,

Where can I find wings to carry me back to you?

Step by step I am farther away, though my feet can hardly go on,

Our souls devastated, our shadows cut apart, just our love is left to us.

In my thirteenth song the strings are passionate, the tones melancholy,