1. "Cunning Boy"
Pre-Qin Dynasty - Anonymous
That cunning boy is like a cunning boy and doesn't talk to me. Because of Wei Zi, I can't eat.
That cunning boy doesn’t want to eat with me. Because of Wei Zi, I can't rest.
Translation:
That naughty boy, why don’t you talk to me? It's all because of you that I can't even eat.
That naughty boy, why don’t you have dinner with me? It's all because of you that I can't sleep well.
2. "Song of Thatched Cottage Broken by the Autumn Wind"
Tang Dynasty - Du Fu
In August, the high autumn wind roared and rolled up the triple thatch on my house. Mao flies across the river and spreads across the outskirts of the river. The taller ones hang on the treetops, while the lower ones float around the pond.
The group of children in Nancun bullied me into thinking that I was old and weak, and that I could not bear to face a thief, so they openly carried me into the bamboo. My lips were burnt and my mouth was dry and I couldn't breathe. When I returned home, I leaned on my stick and sighed.
The wind in Russia makes the clouds dark, and the desert turns dark in autumn. The quilt has been as cold as iron for many years, and the delicate child is lying on it and is cracked inside. There is no drying place for the leakage at the bedside, and the rain is like hemp on the feet and has not been stopped. Since I have lost my temper and have had little sleep, how can I get wet all night long?
There are tens of thousands of vast buildings, which can shelter the poor people all over the world and make them happy, and they are as peaceful as a mountain without being affected by wind or rain. Alas! When I suddenly see this house in front of my eyes, my house alone will be broken down and frozen to death!
Translation:
In the depth of autumn in August, the strong wind howled, and the strong wind swept away several layers of thatch on my roof. Thatch flies across the Huanhua River and is scattered on the other side of the river. The thatch that flies high is entangled in the tall treetops, and the grass that flies low flutters and sinks into the ponds and depressions.
A group of children in Nancun bullied me because I was old and weak. They had the heart to act like a "thief" and steal things in front of me. They ran into the bamboo forest holding thatch without any scruples. My lips were dry and I couldn’t stop drinking. When I came back, I was leaning on a cane and sighing alone.
After a while the wind stopped, the dark clouds in the sky were as black as ink, and the gloomy sky in late autumn gradually became dark. The cloth has been covered for many years and is cold and hard, like iron. The child's sleeping posture was not good and the quilt was torn. When it rains, the roof leaks, and there is no dry place in the house. The rainwater on the roof leaks down like twine. Since the Anshi Rebellion, I had very little sleep time. The nights were long, the house was leaky, and the bed was wet. How could I stay up until dawn?
How can we get tens of millions of spacious and tall houses to universally shelter poor scholars all over the world and make them smile? The house will remain unmoved in wind and rain and be as stable as a mountain? well! When will such a tall house appear in front of me, even if my thatched hut is blown apart by the autumn wind, I will be willing to freeze to death!
3. "Summer Pastoral Miscellany Part 7"
Song Dynasty - Fan Chengda
Working in the fields during the day and planting hemp at night, all the children in the village Head of the house.
The children and grandchildren are still working for farming and weaving, and they are also learning to grow melons near the mulberry tree.
Translation:
Weeding in the fields during the day and rolling twine at home at night. Men and women in the village each have their own housework.
Although the children did not know how to plow the fields and weave, they still learned to grow melons under the shade of the mulberry trees.
4. "Nanling Farewell Children Entering Beijing"
Tang Dynasty - Li Bai
When the white wine is newly ripe, he returns to the mountains, and the yellow chickens peck at the millet in autumn. The children cook chicken and drink white wine, while the children laugh and hold people's clothes.
Sing high to get drunk and masturbate, dance to the sunset for glory. It is not early to persuade people to take advantage of all the hardships, and to travel long distances on horseback with a whip.
The foolish woman in Kuaiji bought the minister lightly, so I resigned from home and went west to the Qin Dynasty. I looked up to the sky and laughed loudly and went out. How can I be a Penghao person?
Translation:
I came back from the mountains when the white wine was just brewing, and the yellow chickens were pecking at the grains and growing fat in the autumn. I called the servants to give me stewed yellow chicken and pour white wine, while the children laughed and made noises and tugged at my clothes.
When the weather is clear, I sing and beg for drunkenness in order to comfort myself; when I am drunk, I dance to compete with the autumn sunset for its brilliance. The king of ten thousand chariots was persuaded that it was late, so he started to hurry up and start running a long way.
The foolish woman in Kuaiji looks down on the poor Zhu Maichen. Now I also leave home and go to Chang'an and enter the Qin Dynasty in the west. I turned my head to the sky and laughed loudly as I walked out the door. How could I be a person who has been in the grass for a long time?
5. "Flower Shadow"
Song Dynasty - Su Shi
One after another on the Yaotai, the children couldn't sweep it away despite being called several times. It was just taken away by the sun, but it was taught by the bright moon to see the future.
Translation:
There are layers of flower shadows on the pavilion. I asked Tong'er several times to clean them, but how can the flower shadows be swept away? When the sun went down in the evening, the shadows of the flowers had just faded away, but the moon rose again, and the shadows of the flowers reappeared one after another.