I recall the first day of the third moon,
The year fell in the Fire-Rat's domain.
At dawn I climbed the Welcome-Chariot town,
At night I lodged in Clear-Border hall.
Then came the dust storm and the murky fog,
The sun's bright essence dimmed, without a ray.
The northern tribes assailed the crimson palace,
The Dog Barbarians mounted the royal bed.
The bronze camels wept in desolate gloom,
The Vermilion Bird's might hung in its flight.
I wished to dredge the rivers and mountains,
To borrow aid from metal and hot springs.
My path led through the vast and barren wilds,
Around the trees I wandered, lost and void.
With fervor I stroked the giant turtle's back,
Through hardship I passed the twisting goat-gut trail.
I propped the sun up to the heavenly gate,
Followed the clouds to bow to Eastern God.
Zu Ti vowed to revive the Jin's great cause,
Zheng Tian upheld the Tang with righteous zeal.
Human designs—how could they reach so far?
Heaven's mandate does not stay with one house.
The Luo tripod sank deep in Si River,
On Ji Hill the bamboo of Wen was planted.
The jade palace held the Khatun as queen,
The marble steps saw the Chanyu as king.
Revolution spanned a thousand ages,
Loosed hair spread to the eight wild frontiers.
The sea's flow suddenly turned to the west,
The sky's wheel swiftly spun toward the right.
Alas, I was captured, made a trophy,
Toiled ten thousand miles by ladder and sail.
Autumn wind rose on the border outpost,
Night snow lay on the cangue and wooden frame.
A southern cap like Minister Zheng's fate,
A northern cellar like Su Wu's long stay.
Dragons and snakes shared the same den and hole,
Ants and lice clung to my clothes in chains.
I moved amid the filth and stench and mire,
Writhed through the swampy, sodden, muddy ground.
Vast and grey, the azure sky turned black,
Long and deep, the bright day turned to yellow.
Wind and dust filled the desert's emptiness,
Years and months ripened stars and frosts anew.
Beneath the earth, twin spirits burn fiercely,
Inside the prison, solitary wrath grows long.
Only my sunflower heart remains true,
Unchanged is my iron-and-stone resolve.
Like the cut tongue that stirred Changshan's defiance,
Like the plucked teeth that hardened Suiyang's stand.
This will has already gone to the ditch,
My remaining life ends by the cliff wall.
Yi Wu can no longer be called to act,
Zhong Lian has long been said to have perished.
Wang Yan advised Shi Le to take the throne,
Feng Dao served De Guang of Liao as minister.
The base customs now are weak and decadent,
The raging flood has already spread wide.
The lesser men are not worth mentioning,
What true man can now bear this heavy load?
I step outside, look up and laugh at heaven,
Clouds and mountains stretch vast, azure and grey.