Wu Lang appeared again
Du Fu
In front of the hall, there was a woman with no food and no children.
I would rather have this than poverty, only to be married out of fear.
Although it is troublesome to prevent distant visitors, it is really true to insert sparse barriers.
I have been told that I am poor to the bone, and I am thinking about fighting in the army with tears stained my towel.
Translation: Let the west neighbor beat dates in front of the thatched cottage. She is a woman with no food and no son. It was not because he was poor that he would do such a thing, but rather because he was afraid of her but wanted to appear amiable. When the poor woman saw that she had a new owner, she was wary of you. Although she was troublesome, she seemed to be too serious about putting up a sparse fence when you came. The poor woman had already told how she was impoverished to the bone due to the collection of taxes. From this, I thought of the disaster that the ongoing war has brought to the people, and my clothes were wet with tears.
Explanation that Du Fu gave his old residence to Wu Lang to live in, and he still missed the poor woman who used to live next to the west, so he wrote this poem to ask Wu Lang to take more care of her: Don’t stop her from coming to beat dates, even if she If you are afraid of the new owner, you should be more considerate and don't make her feel disgusted by "just cutting through the fence". The poet sympathizes very much with the poor women because he knows deeply that severe "recruitment" and continuous war have made the people extremely poor.
Notes:
In the second year of Dali (767), that is, the second year after Du Fu wandered to Kuifu, Sichuan, he lived in a thatched cottage in Hanxi. There were several date trees in front of the thatched cottage. A widow from the west neighbor often came to beat dates, but Du Fu never interfered. Later, Du Fu gave the thatched cottage to a relative named Wu (that is, Wu Lang in the poem), and moved to Dongtun, more than ten miles away from the thatched cottage. Unexpectedly, as soon as Wu arrived, he put up a fence in the thatched cottage and prohibited jujube harvesting. The widow complained to Du Fu, and Du Fu wrote this poem to advise Wu Lang. Du Fu had previously written a poem called "Jian Wu Lang's Justice", so this poem was titled "Wu Lang Presented Again". Wu Lang was younger than Du Fu. Du Fu did not say "Jian Wu Lang again", but deliberately used the honorific "cheng" which did not seem to be commensurate with the other person's status. This made Wu Lang easier to accept.
The first sentence of the poem goes straight to the point, starting with how he treated his neighbor's wife Puzao in the past. "Pu Zao" means beating dates. Here we do not use the violent upward tone word "beat", but use the short and calm entering tone word "pu" in order to achieve the consistency of tone and mood. "Ren" means letting go. Why let it go? The second sentence says, "A woman has no food and no children." It turns out that this neighbor to the west is an old widow with no food and no children. The poet seemed to be saying to Wu Lang: For such a helpless and poor woman, can we not let her get some dates?
The third and fourth sentences follow the first and second sentences: "Would you rather have this if you are not poor? It's just because of fear that you have to marry." "Poverty" is the continuation of the second sentence; "this" refers to The matter of jujube. If it weren't for the fact that she was so poor and helpless, why would she go to other people's dates? Precisely because she always has a fearful mood when throwing dates, so instead of interfering, we should show some kindness to make her feel at ease when throwing dates. This shows that Du Fu is very sympathetic and considerate of the situation of the poor. A Shaanxi folk song goes: "The poet sage of the Tang Dynasty was Du Fu, who could understand the suffering of the common people." It is true. The above four sentences, connected in one breath, are Du Fu's narration of past events, with the purpose of inspiring Wu Lang.
It took five or six sentences to fall on Wu Lang. "Although it is troublesome to guard against distant visitors, it is very true to put in sparse barriers." These two sentences are related to each other, interdependent, and complementary to each other, and should be viewed in conjunction. "Beware" means to be on guard, to be on guard, and its subject is widow. "Far guest" refers to Wu Lang. "To be troublesome" means to be careless, or to be worried. The subject of the word "insert" in the next sentence is Wu Lang. These two lines of poems say that as soon as the widow sees you putting up the fence, she will prevent you from letting her hit the dates. Although it is too careless and nervous; however, as soon as you move into the thatched cottage, you are busy putting up the fence, but it is also very true. I want to ban her from playing jujube! The implication is: You can't blame her for being careless, but you yourself are a little too inconsiderate. She is always on tenterhooks. If you don't show special kindness, that's enough. Why bother putting up a fence? The wording of these two poems is very euphemistic and implicit. This is because they are afraid that speaking too bluntly, too bluntly, and teaching too heavily will arouse the other party's resentment and make them less likely to accept advice.
The last two sentences, "I have complained that I am poor to the bone, and I am thinking about the army with tears in my scarf", which is the knot of the whole poem and the apex of the whole poem. On the surface, it is a dual sentence, but in fact it is not a parallel sentence, because there is a development process between the upper and lower sentences from near to far, from small to large. In the previous sentence, Du Fu used the widow's complaint to point out the social root of the poverty of the widow and the majority of the people at that time. This is the exploitation by officials, which is the so-called "solicitation" in the poem, which makes her extremely poor. This also provides further relief for the widow's behavior of throwing dates. The next sentence goes further, bigger, and deeper, pointing out another social root cause that puts the people in dire straits. This is the war that has lasted for more than ten years since the Anshi Rebellion, the so-called "army and horse". From a poor widow, from a trivial matter, Du Fu thought of the overall situation of the country, and even shed tears. On the one hand, this is certainly a natural expression of his thoughts and feelings of loving the motherland and the people; on the other hand, it is also a proper article to awaken and enlighten Wu Lang.
Let him know: In this war-torn situation, there are still many people suffering, and widows are by no means the only ones. If the war-torn situation does not change, even our own lives may not be guaranteed. Aren’t we now in the same distance because of the war? I'm a guest, but aren't you still living in my thatched cottage? The last line of the poem seems to go too far, and seems to have nothing to do with the theme of discouraging Wu Lang from cutting the fence. In fact, it is very related and useful. I hope that he will be able to stand taller, see further, and think more broadly, so that he will naturally stop fussing over a few dates. It is from this place that we can see the poet's "hard work" and his attitude towards the people.
The popular character of this poem is strong and distinct, and it is particularly worthy of attention among the seven-character rhyme poems that are usually used to praise virtues and are characterized by "nobility and elegance". The artistic expression of poetry is also very distinctive. First, use your own personal experience to inspire the other person, use unbreakable truths to enlighten the other person, and finally use your own tears to move the other person. Avoid abstract preaching as much as possible, use euphemistic words, and be empathetic and reasonable. The second is to use imaginary words commonly used in prose to make transitions. Like "not for", "only due to", "has complained", "zhengsi", as well as "that is", "then", "although", "but", etc., so it can turn dullness into liveliness, and has the characteristics of rhythmic poetry. It has beautiful form, beautiful music, and the flexibility of prose. It is full of rhythm and thought-provoking.