A Song of the Snow
By Luh Fang-Weng
Three days it snowed on Chang-an32 plain,
With drifts the Pass33 was stacked;
The iron cows34 could not be moved,
The dew-pans35 froze and cracked.
A traveller of handsome mien,
And clad in white foxskin,
With curled moustache and strong of limb,
Came to the Pao-chan36 inn.
At night he supped and drank full well
Until he soundly slept;
But in the early dawn he woke
And on his strong horse leapt.
Then riding through the drifts of snow
He reached the South Range bare,
And hunted for a tiger fierce
Which long had ’scaped the snare.
And when the crafty beast was met,
An arrow from his bow
Transfixed its bounding body huge,
And reddened deep the snow.
With dying strength it beat the air,
And uttered piercing yells,
Which shook the hills and forest trees,
And echoed through the dells.
The carcase then he draggèd back
Along a crowded course;
The bones a pillow frame supplied,
The skin adorned his horse.
But when confusion fills the land,
And peace is under ban,
Why don’t such men of might come forth
To help the King of Han!
Notes
32 Now Si-ngan, the provincial capital of Shen-si, but in the Han Dynasty the capital of China.
33 A very important mountain pass near Si-ngan.
34 Vessels used in the conservancy of the Yellow River.
35 Pans to hold dew, which was collected to provide the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty with bathing-and drinking-water and thus promote longevity.
36 ‘The Precious Hairpin,’ merely the sign of the inn.