Listen to this article乌生八九子
无名氏
乌生八九子，端坐秦氏桂树间。唶我[1]！秦氏家有游遨荡子[2]，工用睢阳[3]强，苏合[4]弹。左手持强弹两丸，出入乌东西。唶我！一丸即发中乌身，乌死魂魄飞扬上天。阿母生乌子时，乃在南山岩石间。唶我！人民安知乌子处？蹊径窈窕安从通？白鹿乃在上林西苑中，射工尚复得白鹿脯。唶我！黄鹄摩天极高飞，后宫尚复得烹煮之。鲤鱼乃在洛水深渊中，钓竿尚得鲤鱼口。唶我！人民生，各各有寿命，死生何须复道前后！
注释：
[1] 唶我：象声词，指乌的哀鸣。
[2] 游遨荡子：荡子。
[3] 睢阳：古宋国的都城，在今河南商丘市南。相传宋景公时有一个弓匠造了一张硬弓，能射几百里远。
[4] 苏合：西域月氏国所产的一种香料。“苏合弹”是用苏合香和泥制作的弹丸。
Song of a Crow
Anonymous
A crow with fledglings nests on cassia tree
In the yard of the Qin family. Ah me!
There is a reckless son within family walls,
Armed with strong sling-shot and storax balls.
Two balls in his left hand, he circles east and west
Around the fledglings’ nest. Ah me!
He deals a blow
And hits the crow.
When the mother bird dies,
Her soul flies to the skies.
When she fed her fledglings’ mouth,
They lived among the boulders in the south. Ah me!
How could people know where they did stay?
None to their nest could find the winding way.
White deer in Western Royal Garden wide
Are bagged by archers for venison dried. Ah me!
The palace cooks wild swans which flew so high
As to scrape the vault of the sky.
The carp may hide in River Luo’s deepest nook;
Its mouth cannot escape the fishing hook. Ah me!
Men may live long or short, different is their fate.
Then why complain if death comes soon or late!
