An old man selling charcoal
Tang Dynasty: Bai Juyi
An old man selling charcoal cuts wood and burns charcoal in the mountains in the south all year round.
His face was covered with dust, which was the color of smoke burning, his temples were gray, and his ten fingers were burnt black.
What is the money for selling charcoal for? Buy clothes, buy food in your mouth.
Pity that he is wearing thin clothes, but he is worried that charcoal can't be sold, hoping it will be colder.
At night, it snowed a foot thick outside the city. Early in the morning, the old man drove a charcoal wheel to the market.
Cows are tired and people are hungry, but the sun has risen very high. They are resting in the mud outside the south gate of the market.
Who is that proud man riding on two horses? It was the eunuchs in the palace and eunuchs who did it.
The eunuch, with documents in his hand and the emperor's orders in his mouth, shouted at the petrified palace.
A load of charcoal, more than 1000 kilograms, eunuch attendants to drive away, the old man is helpless, but there is no way.
Those people put half a piece of red yarn and a piece of silk on their heads as the price of charcoal.
translate
An old man who sells charcoal cuts wood and burns charcoal in Nanshan all the year round.
His face was covered with dust and smoke, his temples were gray, and his ten fingers were blackened by charcoal.
What is the money from selling charcoal for? Buy clothes to wear and food to eat in your mouth.
It's a pity that he only wears thin clothes, but he is worried that charcoal can't be sold, hoping it will be colder.
It snowed a foot thick outside the city at night. In the morning, the old man ran over the frozen wheel tracks in a charcoal car and hurried to the market.
Cattle are tired and people are hungry, but the sun has risen very high and rested in the mud outside the south gate of the market.
Who is the man riding two horses? They are eunuchs, eunuchs in the palace.
The eunuch held the official document in his hand, but said it was the emperor's order and shouted to pull the cow to the palace.
A load of charcoal, 1000 kilograms, was insisted by eunuch officers. The old man is reluctant to give up, but he is helpless.
Those people hung half a horse's red yarn and a silk on the cow's head as the price of charcoal.
To annotate ...
Charcoal vendor: This is the thirty-second poem in the group of "New Yuefu", with the caption: "Kumiya also." The palace market refers to the things needed in the court of the Tang Dynasty. Taking them away from the market and giving them some money casually is actually an open plunder. Tang Dezong used eunuchs to manage it.
Logging: logging. Salary: firewood. Nanshan: the mountain in the south of the city.
Fireworks color: smoky face. The hardship of selling charcoal Weng is highlighted here.
Pale: grayish white, describing gray hair at the temples.
I see. He Suoying: What? Camp, management, here refers to demand.
Pity: pitiful.
Wish: hope.
It's dawn Rolling (ni m 4 n): same as "rolling" and pressing. Track: The track of wheels rolling on the ground.
Sleepy: sleepy and tired.
Cheng: Chang 'an has a trade zone called Cheng. There are walls and doors around the city.
Parallel: a relaxed and free situation. It is described here as getting carried away. Rider: A person who rides a horse.
Yellow messenger: The yellow messenger refers to the eunuch in the palace. White shirt, refers to the eunuch's minions.
Take it: Take it. Say: say. Order or imperial edict of the emperor.
Back: Turn around. Scold: reprimand. Pull to the north: refers to pull to the palace.
More than 1000 kilograms: unreal, described by many.
Driver: Hurry up. Jiang: auxiliary words. I can't stand it: I can't stand it. Yes, I can. Cherish and give up
Half a piece of HongLing and a piece of silk: In commercial transactions in the Tang Dynasty, silk and other silk products can be used instead of money. At that time, Qian Guisi was cheap, and half a yarn and a silk were far less valuable than a car full of charcoal. This is the official use of cheap prices to seize the wealth of the people.
Tie (j √): Tie. This means hanging. Straight: by "value", it refers to the price.
Creation background
Selling Charcoal Weng is the thirty-second poem in Bai Juyi's "New Yuefu" series, which reads: "Miyagi also." Bai Juyi wrote "New Yuefu" in the early years of Yuanhe (Tang Xianzong year, 806-820), which was the most harmful time in the court market. He has a good understanding of the court market and deep sympathy for the people, so he can write this touching "charcoal man".
Literary appreciation
In the first four sentences, it is difficult to write about selling charcoal. "Reducing salary and burning charcoal" summarizes the complicated working procedures and the long labor process. "His face is covered with dust and fireworks, his temples are gray and his fingers are black." He vividly described the portrait of the charcoal seller, wrote the hardships of labor, and also got the image performance. "In Nanshan" highlights the workplace. This "Nanshan" is the Zhongnan Mountain described by Wang Wei as "there is no door to stay at night and call the woodcutter in Jiang Lai", where jackals haunt and are desolate. In such an environment, the cornices in Dai Yue are covered with frost and snow, one by one, the salary is reduced, and one kiln is burning charcoal. It is easy to burn "more than a thousand kilograms", and every kilogram is filled with painstaking efforts and condensed with hope. Writing to a charcoal seller is the result of his efforts, which distinguishes him from charcoal sellers. However, if this charcoal seller still has land, planting and harvesting by himself will not be hungry and cold, and only use his spare time to burn charcoal and sell it to subsidize his family, then his burden of charcoal will be plundered and there will be other ways to live. But this is not the case. The genius of the poet lies in that he did not personally introduce the family economic situation of the charcoal seller to the readers, but set it as a question and answer: "What is the business of selling charcoal to sell money?" Wear clothes and eat in your mouth. "This question and answer not only turned the board into a living thing, but also made the literary situation ups and downs, swaying and swaying, expanding the depth and breadth of reflecting the sufferings of the people, and making readers clearly see that this laborer has been exploited to poverty and destitution;" The clothes on his body and the food in his mouth all hope that the thousands of kilograms of charcoal he worked so hard to burn can fetch a good price. This laid a solid foundation for later writing the crime of imperial envoys plundering charcoal.
"The poor man's clothes are just ordinary. He is worried about charcoal and hopes it is cold." This is a well-known sentence. "The clothes on my body are only single", so I naturally hope to be warm. Charcoal sellers put all their hopes of solving food and clothing on "selling charcoal to make money", so they "worry about charcoal and wish for cold" and hope it will be colder when they are shivering with cold. The poet deeply understood the difficult situation and complicated inner activities of the charcoal seller, and showed it so vividly in just a dozen words, and poured infinite sympathy with the word "pity", which made people cry.
These two poems are a bridge from the first half to the second half in terms of composition. "Worrying about charcoal and looking forward to the cold" is actually looking forward to the cold wind and heavy snow. "It snows a foot outside the city at night", and this heavy snow has finally come! No more "worry-free and cheap"! In order to keep warm, the dignitaries and wealthy businessmen at the foot of the son of heaven will not haggle over the trivial price of charcoal. When the charcoal seller "runs on the ice in a charcoal cart", what occupies his whole heart is not complaining about how difficult the icy road is, but thinking about how much money a cart of charcoal can sell and how much clothes and food he can get. If a novelist writes, he can use a lot of pen and ink to write about the psychological activities of selling charcoal Weng along the way, but the poet didn't write a word, because he opened up a vast imaginary world for readers in front.
The charcoal seller finally burned a car full of charcoal, hoping for a snow and money for food and clothing along the way, but he met a "palace envoy" who paid lip service but failed to deliver. In front of the emissaries of the palace, the documents and decrees of the emperor, and following the voice of "cursing cows", everything planned and hoped by charcoal sellers in the long process from "reducing wages", "burning charcoal", "wishing the weather is cold", "driving charcoal carts", "rolling ice trails" to "lying mud" came to nothing.
From "Nanshan Middle School" to Chang 'an City, the road is so far and difficult to walk. When the charcoal seller "rested in the mud outside the south gate", it was already "the cows were trapped and the people were hungry"; Now it's "going back to the car and scolding the cows for taking them north" and sending charcoal to the palace. Of course, cows are more sleepy and people are more hungry. So, when the charcoal seller goes back to Zhong Nanshan hungry, what will he think and how will he live in the future? All this is not written by the poet, but what readers can't help thinking. When thinking about all this, we can't help but sympathize with the experience of charcoal sellers and hate the sins of rulers. The original intention of the poet to create Miyagi has achieved the expected results.
This poem has profound ideological content and artistic characteristics. What can the poet do with the money from selling charcoal? These words express the hope of an old man who is almost on the verge of life. . This is the center of the poem. All other descriptions focus on this poetic eye. In the way of expression, contrast and contrast are flexible. The fate of the old man, highlighting his old age with "grey temples" and the hardships of "reducing salary and burning charcoal" with "dust fireworks", set off the desolation and viciousness of Nanshan and aroused people's sympathy. All this reflects the burning of old people's hopes: selling charcoal to get money, buying clothes and food. The old man wears simple clothes, and then uses the "one foot of snow" at night and the "ice trace" on the road as a foil, which makes people feel that the old man is pitiful. All this just reflects the fierceness of the fire of hope for the elderly: it is freezing in the cold, charcoal is expensive, and you can change more clothes and food. Next, "the cow is hungry" and "two riding" reflect the disparity between workers and rulers; "A cart full of charcoal, a thousand Jin" and "Half a horse's red yarn, a foot's silk" contrast the cruelty of plunder in the "palace market". As far as the whole poem is concerned, the burning of the fire of hope in front is precisely to set off the sadness and pain of hope behind.
Unlike some articles in "New Yuefu", this poem has no "ambition", but comes to an abrupt end in the climax of contradictions and conflicts, so it is more subtle, powerful, thought-provoking and gripping. It is no accident that this poem has been told by thousands of people for thousands of years.