Listen to this article妇病行
无名氏
妇病连年累岁，传呼丈人[1]前一言。
当言未及得言，不知泪下一何翩翩[2]。
“属累[3]君两三孤子，莫我儿饥且寒，
有过慎莫笪笞[4]，行当折摇[5]，思复念之！”
乱[6]曰：抱时无衣，襦复无里。闭门塞牖[7]，舍孤儿到市。道逢亲交，泣坐不能起。从乞求与孤儿买饵[8]。对交啼泣，泪不可止。
“我欲不伤悲不能已。”探怀中钱持授交。
入门见孤儿，啼索其母抱。徘徊空舍中，“行复尔耳[9]！弃置[10]勿复道。”
注释：
[1] 丈人：古时对男子的称呼，这里是病妇称呼她的丈夫。
[2] 翩翩：泪流不止。
[3] 属累：连累，拖累。
[4] 笪笞：鞭打。
[5] 折摇：即“折夭”，去世。
[6] 乱：古时称乐曲的最后一章。
[7] 牖：窗。
[8] 饵：糕饼之类的食品。
[9] 行复尔耳：又将如此。
[10] 弃置：抛弃，丢弃。
On Her Deathbed
Anonymous
A wife’s been ill for years;
She calls her husband, but before she speaks
A word, her tears
Stream down her cheeks.
“I’ll leave you our child of two years old.
Don’t let him go hungry or cold!
Do not beat him if he does wrong,
Or he cannot live long!
Bear it in mind always!”
After her death, her husband says:
“I want to carry my child to the town,
But he has not a gown.
His jacket is too thin;
I have to leave him in.
I close the door and window bare,
And go alone to the fair.
Meeting a friend on the way, I sit down
And weep so much that I can’t rise.
With tearful eyes
I beg my friend to buy a cake
For the motherless orphan’s sake.
Speaking to him, I can’t refrain
From shedding tears in rain.
I will not show my grief but I weep without end,
And I take money from my pocket for my friend.
I come home again for a rest,
And see my son cry for his mother’s breast.
I walk in empty room to and fro.
He’ll be like this whether I stay or go.
What can I do but leave him in the woe!”
