World Literature:
Jidi Majia (China)
Old Songstress
After singing the song you learned in girlhood
You feel shy, your face blushes scarlet
And two enchanting stars seem ready to jump
Out from your pair of careworn eyes
You totter back into your memory
Along the gullies of your wrinkled face
Ah, this land is harrowed by wind and rain
At the margin of this brown land
You cherish a woman’s most precious thing——
It is the sun of your daytime
It is the moon of your evening
It raises a rainbow in your sight
But only a dreamy rainbow by a lake
Dream-filled days and nights were yours back then
But all the men left you in a dream back then
By light of dawn they went away
Taking your bloom of youth, leaving behind your heart
In order to wait for them
Even today you sing that song
(Translated from Chinese by Denis Mair)
