蔡琰·《胡笳十八拍·第十七拍》英译

十七拍兮心鼻酸，关山阻修兮行路难。

去时怀土兮枯枯叶干，沙场白骨兮刀痕箭瘢。

风霜凛凛兮春夏寒，人马饥虺兮骨肉单。

岂知重得兮入长安，欢息欲绝兮泪阑干。

Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute     

Cai Yan        

Song 17

In my seventeenth song, my heart and nose are sore as if they inhaled vinegar,

Passes and mountains, dangerous and long the road brutal to travel,

When I left, I longed for my home soil, I had no idea what would happen;

When I came back, separated from my sons, my thoughts of them flowed on and on.

Wormwood on the frontier lands brittle twigs, dry leaves,

White bones on the desert battlefields blade wounds, arrow scars.

Wind-borne frost chills, chills; spring and summer are cold,

Men and horses hungry, weary; bones and flesh too meager.

How could I know I would come again to Chang’an?