Summer.
From: "On the Pond" by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty
Original text:
A little boy secretly picked white lotus flowers in a small boat.
If you don’t hide the traces, the duckweeds will bloom together.
Translation: A child held a boat and secretly picked white lotus flowers. He didn't know how to hide his traces, but there was a trace of a boat on the duckweed on the water. Duckweed: an aquatic plant with oval leaves floating on the water and fibrous roots under the leaves. White flowers bloom in summer.
Extended information:
The creative background of "Chishang":
According to the "Commentary Notes of Bai Juyi's Poetry Collection", this poem was written in the ninth year of Yamato (835). He was appointed Prince Shaofu and was assigned to Luoyang, the eastern capital. One day while traveling by the pond, I saw a little boy punting a boat and wrote this series of poems.
The poet narrates a small incident in the life of a little baby in the poem, accurately captures the little baby's momentary mood, and outlines a picture of lotus picking. In the summer when lotus flowers are in full bloom, innocent and lively children hold a small boat and secretly go to the pond to pick white lotus flowers to play with. I was so excited to collect lotus flowers that I had long forgotten that I had gone there quietly without telling the adults. I didn’t know how or didn’t think of hiding my traces, so I rowed back in a boat with a swagger, and the boat gently shook the duckweeds on the water. A clear and obvious trace of the waterway was left behind.
The poet uses his unique popular style to describe the little baby in the poem as very cute and amiable. The whole poem is like vernacular and full of charm.