Li He: To Find Stones Of Fine Jade Indeed, One Dives Into Blue Water Deep 李賀 采玉采玉須水碧 琢作步搖徒好色 Poem by Frank Yue

LAO FU CAI YU GE:
"Song of the Jade-Stone Picking Old Man"
-by LI HE (790～816)
-Translated by Frank C Yue

To find stones of fine jade indeed,
One dives into blue water deep.
Stones are carved meticulously
To make head ornaments for ladies.
Of cold and hunger, the old man's conscious;
Disturbed water makes the dragon anxious.
Turbid's the rivulet at Stream Blue;
No day goes by with clear water, too.
When the night rain falls on the hills thus,
The old man feeds on wild hazel nuts.
As the cuckoo cries sadly
He is also all teary.

In Blue Stream, many a man had drown'd;
After death, at the stream they frown.
Cypress winds and rains howl at cliff-side;
Climbing down steep slopes, the rope swings wide.
He just thinks of his young grandson,
And his thatch hut in the village cold,
When he sees the ivies in the sun
Growing from cracks in the stone steps old.


《老夫采玉歌》唐 • 李賀

采玉采玉須水碧， 琢作步搖徒好色。
　老夫饑寒龍爲愁， 藍溪水氣無清白。
　　夜雨岡頭食蓁子， 杜鵑口血老夫淚。
　　藍溪之水厭生人， 身死千年恨溪水。
　　斜山柏風雨如嘯， 泉腳掛繩青嫋嫋。
　　村寒白屋念嬌嬰， 古台石磴懸腸草。


《老夫采玉歌》唐 • 李賀

采玉采玉须水碧， 琢作步摇徒好色。
老夫饥寒龙为愁， 蓝溪水气无清白。
夜雨冈头食蓁子， 杜鹃口血老夫泪。
蓝溪之水厌生人， 身死千年恨溪水。
斜杉柏风雨如啸， 泉脚挂绳青袅袅。
村寒白屋念娇婴， 古台石磴悬肠草。