The original text is as follows:
Catching Locusts
The locusts have eaten all the beans in the seedlings, and there has been no harvest for several years.
Everyone in the town looked up and sighed, what can we say about the locust seedlings in the future?
After ten years of trying to fix the problem, it is still like an ostrich hiding its head.
Who can know the Michigan accent? I rely on talent to pick my own.
After more than ten years of hunting, let’s look at the present! Already at leisure.
The locusts are flying up the trees, so happy! Like a stray horse.
The children look at the flowers with a smile, sometimes chewing salt under their hooves.
In desperation, there are fossils and grass growing in the corners of the world.
Since ancient times, when locust plagues have been endless, any prediction should be laughed at.
Translation:
Locusts devoured fields and crops, and there was no harvest after flying for several years. Climbing to the plateau and looking out, endless locusts are tormenting the farmland. Although the remedy has been rushed for ten years, it is hiding like an ostrich. The accent is the local dialect of Michigan. Only people like me have this skill.
I have been hunting locusts for more than ten years, and it seems to be very easy now. The locusts chased up the stairs as fast as a galloping horse. The children smiled and picked up the flowers, sometimes secretly chewing salt under their hooves.
The locusts were so cornered that even their abdomens turned into stone. While I was happy, grass began to grow on the border. However, locust plagues have been so severe since ancient times that anyone who said they could predict all this would definitely be laughed at.
Introduction to the author Yuan Mei
Yuan Mei (1716-1798), also known as Zhongmou, also known as Dongtingshanren, later known as Yinsheng Laoren, was a famous scholar, writer and poet in the Qing Dynasty , calligrapher. Yuan Mei was born in a scholar's family in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, and his literary talent became apparent in his youth. After several examinations, he finally became a Jinshi during the Qianlong period and became an official. But he was not keen on officialdom and soon resigned and returned home to focus on literary creation and academic research.
Yuan Mei's literary achievements are very high. His works include poetry, lyrics, novels, prose and other fields. His poems adhere to the style of Tang poetry, focusing on scenery description and philosophical thinking, and using concise language to express profound insights. His prose and novels pay attention to detailed description and emotional deepening, highlighting the depth of his thoughts in his thinking about human nature and social phenomena.
Yuan Mei is also an outstanding calligrapher and has his own unique style in calligraphy creation. He was admired and supported by many literati in the Qing Dynasty, and had an important influence on the development of culture and art in later generations.
During his life, Yuan Mei paid attention to the living conditions of rural areas and people, and through his literary achievements, he called on society to be kind and caring for the disadvantaged groups. Yuan Mei spoke highly of folk literature and believed that it is an important part of Chinese cultural inheritance and should receive sufficient attention and research. These thoughts and views of his aroused great concern and public outcry at the time, and also profoundly influenced later literature and social consciousness.