Literal translation:
Self have 5 white cat
Rat not invade my books
Today morning 5 white die
Sacrifice with rice and fish
See off it at middle river
Incantation you not you neglect
Before you bite one rat
Hold in mouth cry around yard remove
Want cause crowd rat frightened
Thought will clear my cottage
From board boat come
Boat in together room live
Dry grain although its thin
Evade eat drip steal from
This real you have industriousness
Have industriousness surpass chicken pig
Ordinary person stress spur horse drive
Say not like horse donkey
Already finish not again discuss
For you somewhat cry
Meaning in simple english:
When I had my Five White cat,
The rats did not invade my books.
This morning Five White died,
I sacrifice with rice and fish.
I see you off in the middle of the river,
I chant for you: I won't neglect you.
Once when you'd bitten a rat,
You took it crying round the yard.
You wanted to scare all the rats,
So as to make my cottage clean.
Since we came on board this boat,
On the boat we've shared a room.
Although the grain is dry and scarce,
I eat not fearing piss or theft.
That's because of your hard work,
Harder working than chickens or pigs.
People stress their mighty steeds,
Saying nothing's like a horse or ass.
Enough- I'm not going to argue,
But cry for you a little.
About poet: Mei Yaochen [1002-1060] lived in the Song dynasty, and wrote simple, moving poems of everyday life and of mourning for his family.He is best known for writing of ordinary life, and using correspondingly ordinary, "unliterary", language. He also wrote several poems mourning the deaths of his wife and children.
Analysis: Mei Yaochen thought he couldn’t match the great poems of the Tang era so tried a different tack: he wrote about the ordinary, and about his particular losses, in relatively plain language. This one is about the death of his beloved cat, named ‘Five White’. I like it so much I’ve wanted to translate it myself. But I have some problems.
It’s not difficult to appreciate this despite it being 1,000 years old. The plainess of language and the directness of its emotion is readily understandable. There doesn’t seem too much standing between us now, in the 21st century, and Mei Yaochen in the 11th century. But it’s not a fantastically elegant version, in English. I thought I might be able to do better. That’s where I got into a world of pain.
personal response is mostly Dionysian because the poem spoke to me emotionally and made me think of my past pets in a personal manner. It did not make me think “Cats are so pragmatic”. Rather, it made me recall my past emotional connection to animals.
This is an excellent example of good poetry in that it succinctly and elegantly expresses the love of his cat and its usefulness. In a very few words, the poem providesinsight into both lives (the cat and man) and allows the reader to relate to his past animal companion connections. Its message is to value the lives and usefulness of animals as companions and as workers. The poem provides a universal message of thevalue of living creatures that is a common Eastern theme. Of course it is worth noting that the life of the rat does not seem to hold the same value.g. Based on my positive response and the value described above, I would recommend the poetry of Mei Yaochen to others.