A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Red Hills

by Arthur Waley

THE RED HILLS

By Pao Chao

Red hills lie athwart us as a menace in the west,
And fiery mountains glare terrible in the south.
The body burns, the head aches and throbs:
If a bird light here, its soul forthwith departs.
Warm springs
Pour from cloudy pools
And hot smoke issues between the rocks.
The sun and moon are perpetually obscured:
The rain and dew never stay dry.
There are red serpents a hundred feet long,
And black snakes ten girths round.
The sand-spitters shoot their poison at the sunbeams:
The flying insects are ill with the shifting glare.
The hungry monkeys dare not come down to eat:
The morning birds dare not set out to fly.
At the Ching river many die of poison:
Crossing the Lu one is lucky if one is only ill.
Our living feet walk on dead ground:
Our high wills surmount the snares of Fate.
The Spear-boat General^[1] got but little honour:
The Wave-subduer^[2] met with scant reward.
If our Prince still grudges the things that are easy to give,^[3]
Can he hope that his soldiers will give what is hardest to give?^[4]

 

1. Hou Yen (first century B. C.).
2. Ma Yüan (first century A. D.).
3. Rewards and titles.
4. Life.