Eighteen Refrains on Tartar Pipes 7, 8, 9 Cai Yan [Cai Wenji] (ca. 177-?)
Tr. YK Chan 陈耀国译

7
日暮风悲兮边声四起，不知愁心兮说向谁是？
At dusk whining winds on all sides of frontier start,
To whom shall I bare my mournful heart?
原野萧条兮烽戍万里，俗贱老弱兮少壮为美。
By destitute rampart outskirts beacons and tents stretch mile after mile.
The weak and old mistreated but the young and strong held up in style.
逐有水草兮安家葺垒，牛羊满野兮聚如蜂蚁。
Following water and grassland to settle as homestead in tents,
Herding cattle and sheep like bees and ants in open land.
草尽水弱兮羊马皆徙，七拍流恨兮恶居于此。
Sheep and horses driven again when grass and water exhaust,
At seventh refrain I loathe why I reside here and find myself lost.

8
为天有眼兮何不见我独漂流？为神有灵兮缘何处我天南海北头？
If an all-seeing eye is watching why it sees not I’m alone drifting?
If the Almighty keeps order why my world’s upside-down shifting?
我不负天兮天何配我殊匹？我不负神兮神何殛我越荒州？
I haven’t offended the one high above why am I betrothed into a foreign race?
I haven’t neglected the Almighty why am I banished to the wilderness without trace?
制兹八拍兮拟排忧，奈何曲成兮心转愁。
To relieve myself from sorrows this eight refrain ends,
Yet when the melody ends to melancholy my heart tends.

9
天无涯兮地无边，我心愁兮亦复然。
Heaven has no end, earth has no brink,
Melancholy in me is endless also I think.
生倏忽兮如白驹之过隙，然不得欢乐兮当我之盛年。
Life passes suddenly as it is ephemeral and toyed,
Yet in my prime I am not overwhelmed with joy.
怨兮欲问天，天苍苍兮上无缘。
Regretful, I wish to learn from heaven high,
Yet in vast space no reason’s found to confide.
举头仰望兮空云烟，九拍怀情兮谁与传？
Looking far above are just mists and grey,
Sentiments at ninth refrain to whom shall I convey?