During the day, weeding in the fields and rubbing hemp thread at home at night, the men and women in the village took on all the housework.
Although the children don't plow and weave, they also learn a kind of melon in the shade of mulberry trees.
Vernacular translation:
Mow the grass during the day and rub the hemp rope at night.
Peasant men and women have no time to rest.
Although children don't know how to plow and weave,
And learn to grow melons under the shade of mulberry trees.
This poem describes a scene of summer life in the countryside.
Poetry appreciation:
The first sentence "Going out to farm during the day, getting hemp at night" means: weeding in the field during the day and rubbing hemp thread at night. "Tillage" means weeding. In early summer, the seedlings need weeding. This is what men should do. "Ji Ma" refers to women who rub twine and weave cloth at night after finishing other work during the day. This sentence directly wrote the labor scene. The second sentence "Children in the village mind their own affairs", that is, "children" refers to men and women, and the whole poem uses the tone of an old farmer, and "children" refers to young people. "Being in charge" means that both men and women are not allowed to be idle and mind their own business. In the third sentence, "children and grandchildren are not prepared for farming and weaving", and "children and grandchildren" refer to those children who can neither farm nor weave, but are not idle. They have been in contact with and love labor since childhood, so they "learn to grow melons under the shade of mulberry trees" and learn to grow melons under the lush mulberry trees. This is a common phenomenon in rural areas, but it is quite distinctive. The conclusion shows the naive interest of rural children.
With a fresh style, the poet described the tense labor atmosphere in the early summer in the countryside in a more delicate way, which made it interesting to read.