顾炎武·《精卫》英译

万事有不平，尔何空自苦；

长将一寸身，衔木到终古？

我愿平东海，身沉心不改；

大海无平期，我心无绝时。

呜呼！君不见，

西山衔木众鸟多，鹊来燕去自成窠。

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Ching-wei¹

Ku Yen-wu

The world is full of iniquities,

Why do you struggle so in vain,

Always urging on that tiny body,

Forever carrying sticks and stones?

“I will fill up the Eastern Sea.

My body may fail; my aim won’t change.

Until the great sea’s filled

My heart can’t know surcease.”

Alas, don’t you see

The many birds with sticks on stones among the Western Hills?

Magpies come, swallows go, all building their own nests.

1. Ch’ing-wei, a mythical bird, believed to be an incarnation of the daughter of Shen Nung (the god of agriculture), who died while travelling the Eastern Sea. The bird supposedly carries sticks and stones to fill in the sea. The poem is unusual in its use of the myth and the extended development of the metaphor, implying perhaps the lack of rebellious spirit among the people.