I. Original text
The south, who was exiled to Lingnan, cut off contact with relatives, survived the winter and experienced a new year.
The closer I get to my hometown, the more timid I am, afraid to inquire about people from home.
Second, translation.
Exile in Lingnan cut off the news of relatives, survived the winter and experienced a new year. The closer I get to my hometown, the more timid I am, afraid to ask about people from my hometown.
Third, the source
Crossing the Han River by Tang Song Wen Zhi
Appreciation of Crossing the Han River
"Now, when I meet people near my village, I dare not ask a question." Two sentences describe the poet's psychological changes on his way home. "Near Hometown" confessed that the poet fled the relegated place and approached his hometown because he had not heard from him for a long time. The so-called "the more timid feelings are" means that the closer you are to your hometown and the closer you are to your family, the more worried you are. It has become a kind of fear, afraid of "not asking a question." Naturally, these two sentences seem to be written as "I am more eager to ask people near my hometown", but what the poet wrote is completely natural: "Now, when I meet people near my village, I dare not ask a question."
After careful consideration, I think that only in this way can we meet the "prescribed scene" revealed in the previous two sentences. Because the poet was exiled on the ridge, he didn't hear from his family for a long time. On the one hand, he missed his family day and night, on the other hand, he was always worried about the fate of his family, fearing that his family would suffer misfortune because of the poet's tie.