卻東西門行 Variant on the Songs
of the East and West Gates
鴻雁出塞北 乃在無人鄉
舉翅萬餘里 行止自成行
冬節食南稻 春日復北翔
田中有轉蓬 隨風遠飄揚
長與故根絕 萬歲不相當
奈何此征夫 安得驅四方
戎馬不解鞍 鎧甲不離傍
冉冉老將至 何時返故鄉
神龍藏深泉 猛獸步高岡
狐死歸首丘 故鄉安可忘
~ 曹操 ~
Wild geese go north of the passes
in no man's country
ten thousand miles and more they lift their wings
and fly or linger by instinct single-file
winters they glean the southern paddies
on a spring day they soar back north
and in the field there is tumbleweed
wind-borne it scatters and whirls away
long served from old roots
not in ten thousand years will it join them again
what help is there for a soldier gone to war
how can he ever return from the earth's four borders
the war horse never slips its saddle
the soldier's armor never leaves his back
softly softly age comes upon him
when can he go home
a dragon god lurks in the deep spring
a fierce tiger stalks the high ridges
a fox dying turns its head to the hill
how can one forget home