Year
This poem by Du Fu was alluded to in this Basho haiku.
My Translation
By Du Fu (712-770) | 杜甫 |
Little White Fish | 白小 |
Pure little white— fated to be parted from your school | 白小 群 分命 |
By nature a two-inch fish | 天然 二寸 魚 |
Tiny little thing— received favors from your water clan | 細微 沾 水族 |
Manners and customs cultivated as vegetables in a garden | 風俗 當 園蔬 |
Now you enter the market amid the money being spent— it’s chaos | 入肆 銀花 亂 |
The basket is overturned amid the snowflakes— and it was all pointless | 傾筐 雪片 虛 |
Having produced your eggs— now collected, | 生成 猶拾 卵 |
Taken up and used— what kind of justice is it? | 盡取 義何如 |
Original Chinese
Traditional | Simplified | Pronunciation |
杜甫 | 杜甫 | Dù Fǔ |
白小 | 白小 | Bái Xiǎo |
白小群分命， | 白小群分命， | Bái xiǎo // qún fēn mìng, |
天然二寸魚。 | 天然二寸鱼。 | Tiān rán // èr cùn yú. |
細微沾水族， | 细微沾水族， | Xì wéi // zhān shuǐ zú, |
風俗當園蔬。 | 风俗当园蔬。 | Fēng sú // dāng yuán shū. |
入肆銀花亂， | 入肆银花乱， | Rù sì // yín huā luàn, |
傾筐雪片虛。 | 倾筐雪片虚。 | Qīng kuāng // xuě piàn xū. |
生成猶拾卵， | 生成犹拾卵， | Shēng chéng // yóu shi luǎn, |
盡取義何如。 | 尽取义何如。 | Jǐn qǔ // yì hé rú. |
Literal Translation
杜甫 | Stop Begin [Du Fu (712-770)] |
白小 | White Little |
白小群分命， | White/pure little/young group/school separated life/fate |
天然二寸魚。 | Heavens certainly two inch fish [heavens certainly = natural] |
細微沾水族， | Fine small moisten/receive-favors/infected water clan [fine small = tiny] |
風俗當園蔬。 | Manners customs act garden vegetables [manners customs = social customs] |
入肆銀花亂， | Enter market money spent chaos |
傾筐雪片虛。 | Overturn bamboo-basket snow/wipe-away flakes empty |
生成猶拾卵， | Life make like/as-if/still/yet collect egg [life make = generate/produce] |
盡取義何如。 | Exhaust/use-up take justice what if [what if = how about / what kind of] |