Since parting, three letters received,
Letters say the separation's been long.
The writing is quite rough,
Yet I'm glad to see your hand.
Yin Seventeen also reports,
Your writing shows some new skill.
Only a year since we parted,
Your learning hasn't filled a peck.
It must be your mother's virtue,
Teaching and guiding day and night.
Finish the Book of Documents,
And quickly analyze the Book of Rites.
A child mumbling through books,
Is no different from breaking dry rot.
Seek meaning, read in a low voice,
That's how to nurture longevity.
Don't learn from village students,
With coarse breath and forceful shouts.
After studies, steal some time,
Weed the new house's garden.
In the cool, urge the servants,
To hoe leeks and onions in the yard.
Weave thorns for distant fences,
Plant peach and willow nearby.
Channel water into the bamboo,
Plant lotus in the pond.
Scoop out tadpoles and frog spawn,
Don't let them become frogs.
I cherish the bamboo grove most,
Take good care of the new shoots.
Ten thousand sheaths wrap dragon children,
Sprouting thickly, filling the woods.
My eyes regret not seeing,
My heart aches as if wrung.
The house debt is still unpaid,
Interest grows heavier each day.
The bamboo shoots cry injustice,
Don't kill them and eat them.
I earnestly entrust you,
Will you let the bamboo shoots live?
Yin Seventeen, the old scholar,
Is your father's teacher and friend.
If you have doubts in reading,
Go and ask him for advice.
Don't make fists with both hands,
Don't drink a mouthful of wine.
Don't learn to catch doves and pigeons,
Don't learn to hit chickens and dogs.
No major harm when young,
But habits guard the future.
Stubbornness brings trouble to others,
Your mother surely won't tolerate.
You may annoy your siblings,
You may annoy your aunts and uncles.
Aunts and uncles aren't my kin,
Siblings are mostly old and ugly.
Don't annoy young Tiaoding,
Tears will dirty his face.
Don't lead young Tiaoding,
To walk under the blazing sun.
Young Tiaoding is little,
He's been apart from me so long.
He can't eat dried meat,
Brother, don't tease and search him.
When I return someday,
If the family complains about you,
For every hundred, I'll let one pass,
And beat you ninety-nine times.