Author Tang,
In winter, grass roots are sweet, and on the way to Beijing, snow is like salt. I don't know whether my mouth is hard or soft, whether to touch the tribulus or to eat it.
This is a set of poems by Li He. Through chanting horses and many historical stories related to horses, Ying Jie's ambition and desire are expressed, and the author's sigh and indignation are expressed. Today, we are going to explain the second one. Li He's poems have always been famous for their rich imagination and ingenious conception, and this group of poems is no exception. In this poem, the poet wrote that the roots of the twelfth lunar month are sweet and the sky is like salt. I don't know whether my mouth is hard or soft, whether to touch the tribulus or to eat it. What does this mean? It means that the grass leaves wither in the twelfth month, and only the roots are still there. Imagine it tastes sweet and delicious, but it is covered with salty snow. In order to find food, the horse can't care whether its mouth is soft or hard, so it has to arch in the snow with its mouth, even if it is stung by thistle.
The strangeness of this poem is mainly reflected in the following points. First, the poet imagined that this good horse was abused to the point of being hungry. Like a pig, eating grass roots in the snow with your mouth is so painful.
Secondly, the metaphor of heavy snow, such as salt, not only uses the allusion of Xie An and his children discussing how to sing snow in Shi Shuo Xin Yu, but also further compares the sweetness and saltiness of grass roots, thus profoundly showing the hunger and despair of this horse, which is really a wonderful association;
Third, there were many people who wrote horse poems in ancient times. No one has ever thought about the psychological activities of horses when they are extremely hungry, but Li He's idea is really inhuman, creative and infectious.