Changgan Memories

When first my hair began to cover my forehead,

I picked and played with flowers before the gate.

You came riding on a bamboo horse,

And circled the walkway, playing with green plums.

We lived together, here in Changgan county,

Two children, without the least suspicion.

When I was fourteen,

I became your wife,

So shy that still my face remained unopened.

I bowed my head towards the shadowed wall,

And called one thousand times,

I turned not once.

At 15 I began to lift my brows,

And wished to be with you as dust with ashes.

You always kept your massive pillar faith,

I had no need to climb the lookout hill.

When I was sixteen, you went far away,

To Yanyudui, within the Qutang gorge.

You should not risk the dangerous floods of May,

Now from the sky, the monkeys cry in mourning.

Before the gate, my pacing's left a mark,

Little by little, the green moss has grown.

The moss is now too deep to sweep away,

And leaves fall in the autumn's early winds.

This August, all the butterflies are yellow,

A pair fly over the western garden's grass.

I feel that they are damaging my heart,

Through worrying, my rosy face grows old.

When you come down the river from Sanba,

Beforehand, send a letter to your home.

We'll go to meet each other, however far,

I'll come up to Changfengsha.