In town they prayed to dragon, dragon hid in pain,
The city gates swung open, eight men entered night.
From Eastern Pass, uproar and clamor rose again,
Flying smoke rolled to half the sky in fiery light.
The Fire God, gnashing teeth, raged in disdain,
Red banners, crimson flags, in chaos blocked the sight.
The mulberry trees fell crashing, noise held reign,
Both shores, scorched by cannons, saw hundreds' plight.
Then officers in ranks came one by one,
Their shouts for miles like thunder shook the ground.
The prefect's orders strict, the soldiers swift to run,
With axes, hoes, and ropes, they gathered round.
But how to fight the drought where dry rivers run?
The fire fiend ran wild, the water god spellbound.
Though Heaven had tears, it dared not weep a one,
Ten thousand people stood with staring eyes profound.
To quell it made it spread, so they let it cease,
Amidst it all, not even a dozen beams remained.
Broken walls pierced, eaves-tiles hung in pieces,
All around in ashes, that house stood unclaimed.
Neighbors marveled, through the whole commandery famed,
The old street-sweeping woman, how many years she'd strained?
Alone, in poverty, her hair like cotton white,
No hole at home, no tattered quilt for night.
Only a coffin waited to be cast from sight,
Thus she pleaded to Heaven, Heaven showed its light.
The principle of dark and bright is not so slight,
Heaven atop the roof is true, not mere insight.
The Luhun mountain fire, though splendid to the eye,
Lacks moral lesson, not worth to versify—
A pity she met no Han Yu, that poet high.