Affliction Of Tsai Yen
© Surazeus
2018 10 19
Tsai Yen young woman with flowing black hair
plucks strings of her lute by the lily pond,
singing about birds that twitter in trees,
and white clouds that shine in the clear blue pond.
Hooves of horses clatter on the stone road
when soldiers sent by the Emperor Ling
break open the gate and shout in the hall,
sharp swords flashing in the afternoon sun.
Tsai Yen hides among long willow tree leaves
when her father Tsai Yung, poet and statesmen,
confronts the warriors with his writing brush,
and asks why they broke the gate of his home.
The captain steps forward and grasps his right arm,
"Your friend Tung Cho rebels against wise Ling,"
then soldiers throw him in the wagon cage,
and Tsai Yen stands alone, mute by the pond.
Tsai Yen with her husband close by her side
enters the palace and bows before Ling,
"My father is loyal to your noble reign,
for he always performs your mission plans."
Whipping his robe, the emperor waves his hand,
so soldiers bring Tsai Yung into the court
where he bows as the sword cuts off his head,
and Tsai Yen weeps in horrified despair.
Soldiers grab the arms of her kind husband
and cut off his head with the flashing sword,
so Tsai Yen runs from the imperial court
like the deer flies from the spear of the hunter.
Running outside high walls of Luoyang City,
Tsai Yen wanders weeping in grove of trees
where peaches drip nectar, gold in sunrays
like the tears that glitter on her soft cheeks.
Wandering along Luo River that glows bright,
Tsai Yen walks among corpses of dead people,
skulls and bones bleached white in the glaring sun,
and her eyes fill the river with her tears.
Barbarian warriors on galloping horses
surround Tsai Yen where she walks in wheat field,
then one man throws her on back of his horse
and takes her to their camp of covered wagons.
Tsai Yen young woman with flowing black hair
walks with crowd of three thousand prisoners
who trudge together over treeless plains
where bleak wind blusters against their sad faces.
Tsai Yen tries to talk to someone she knows,
but the barbarian beats her on the back
so she wails and groans at the bitter pain,
and trudges mute under hot blistering sun.
"If I wish to escape suffering and die
I cannot find the way to kill myself,
but if I wish to live beyond this pain
I wonder I can keep myself alive."
Trudging silent over wind-blasted plain,
Tsai Yen gazes back at dark blurry distance,
and longs for her lush garden of peach trees
where she played her lute by the sparkling pond.
The nomads stop at village of wood huts
where people buy some captives as their slaves,
so the chief with long beard and blazing eyes
gives them three cows for the pretty Tsai Yen.
Maodun places silver ring on her head
and proclaims Tsai Yen the wife of his heart,
then flutes twitter and drums beat in the night
as they celebrate at her wedding feast.
Tsai Yen bears boy who suckles at her breast
as she sits on stone outside the deer-skin tent
and watches snowflakes swirl across the plain
and listens to wind whistling in her ears.
Giving silver coin to old carpenter,
she watches while he builds her small wood lute,
then she sits on shore of the sparkling river
and plucks strings as she gazes in dark water.
"When travelers come from the outside world
I listen to them tell stories with joy,
for I long to return to garden home
where I often played by the lily pond."
Walking with two sons on the river shore,
Tsai Yen teaches them words for everything,
then laughs as they run and play with the goats,
and gives them both sweet raspberries to eat.
Maodun who rode out with hunters at dawn
is brought back draped across back of his horse
since he was thrown and broke his neck on rocks,
so they lay his body before his tent.
Tsai Yen touches his face with trembling hand
and weeps surprised at sorrow of her heart
while their sons gaze silent at his black eyes
that stare up blank at the vast empty sky.
Teoman places silver ring on her head
and proclaims Tsai Yen the wife of his heart,
then flutes twitter and drums beat in the night
as they celebrate at her wedding feast.
Tsai Yen sits alone on the river shore
where she plucks the strings of her simple lute,
"My sorrow keeps flowing like this dark river
which carries my tears to the distant sea."
Tall warrior gallops on the river shore,
then stands beside her in the gleaming sun,
"I am Tsao Pi, son of Chancellor Tsao Tsao,
who has restored peace to the Han Empire."
Tsai Yen kneels in grass with tears in her eyes
but he lifts her up again to her feet,
"I have come to redeem you from this tribe,
and take you back home again to Luoyang."
Teoman accepts three gold coins from Tsao Pi
as payment to redeem Tsai Yen from slavery,
but declares she must leave her sons behind,
for they both belong to the Hsiung-Nu tribe.
Tsai Yen kneels before her boys as they cry,
"Our hearts are bound together by our blood,
so I cannot bear to part from my sons,
but I will never see your eyes again."
Her sons cling to her neck and cry surprised,
"Mother, why are you leaving us alone,
and will you ever come back home again
so we can play by the river and laugh?"
Wailing as she wrings her hands in despair,
Tsai Yen turns her face away from their eyes
and weeps as she climbs on back of the horse,
then gazes back as they fade in the wind.
Tsai Yen rides with Tsao Pi back to Luoyang,
"In China I lost my father and husband,
now in Hsiung-Nu I lose my playful sons
when I return to Luoyang without family."
Tsai Yen stands before gate of her old home
where she played her lute by the lily pond,
but she finds no one inside crumbling walls
except for the skulls and bones of her clan.
The city walls are covered with thick trees,
and courtyards and pavilions sprout brambles,
where Tsai Yen wanders without tears in wind,
finding only skeletons in the grass.
Standing by the pond where she finds her lute,
Tsai Yen hears wolves yelping in evening dusk,
"I face my orphan shadow in the grass
as grief and anger well up from my heart."
Tsai Yen young woman with flowing black hair
plucks strings of her lute by the lily pond,
singing about birds that twitter in trees,
and white clouds that shine in the clear blue pond.
"Though I am home I suffer homeless still,
for I fear I will be cast off again,
but how long can I endure aching sorrow,
since I will harbor my grief till my death?"
© Surazeus
2018 10 19
Tsai Yen young woman with flowing black hair
plucks strings of her lute by the lily pond,
singing about birds that twitter in trees,
and white clouds that shine in the clear blue pond.
Hooves of horses clatter on the stone road
when soldiers sent by the Emperor Ling
break open the gate and shout in the hall,
sharp swords flashing in the afternoon sun.
Tsai Yen hides among long willow tree leaves
when her father Tsai Yung, poet and statesmen,
confronts the warriors with his writing brush,
and asks why they broke the gate of his home.
The captain steps forward and grasps his right arm,
"Your friend Tung Cho rebels against wise Ling,"
then soldiers throw him in the wagon cage,
and Tsai Yen stands alone, mute by the pond.
Tsai Yen with her husband close by her side
enters the palace and bows before Ling,
"My father is loyal to your noble reign,
for he always performs your mission plans."
Whipping his robe, the emperor waves his hand,
so soldiers bring Tsai Yung into the court
where he bows as the sword cuts off his head,
and Tsai Yen weeps in horrified despair.
Soldiers grab the arms of her kind husband
and cut off his head with the flashing sword,
so Tsai Yen runs from the imperial court
like the deer flies from the spear of the hunter.
Running outside high walls of Luoyang City,
Tsai Yen wanders weeping in grove of trees
where peaches drip nectar, gold in sunrays
like the tears that glitter on her soft cheeks.
Wandering along Luo River that glows bright,
Tsai Yen walks among corpses of dead people,
skulls and bones bleached white in the glaring sun,
and her eyes fill the river with her tears.
Barbarian warriors on galloping horses
surround Tsai Yen where she walks in wheat field,
then one man throws her on back of his horse
and takes her to their camp of covered wagons.
Tsai Yen young woman with flowing black hair
walks with crowd of three thousand prisoners
who trudge together over treeless plains
where bleak wind blusters against their sad faces.
Tsai Yen tries to talk to someone she knows,
but the barbarian beats her on the back
so she wails and groans at the bitter pain,
and trudges mute under hot blistering sun.
"If I wish to escape suffering and die
I cannot find the way to kill myself,
but if I wish to live beyond this pain
I wonder I can keep myself alive."
Trudging silent over wind-blasted plain,
Tsai Yen gazes back at dark blurry distance,
and longs for her lush garden of peach trees
where she played her lute by the sparkling pond.
The nomads stop at village of wood huts
where people buy some captives as their slaves,
so the chief with long beard and blazing eyes
gives them three cows for the pretty Tsai Yen.
Maodun places silver ring on her head
and proclaims Tsai Yen the wife of his heart,
then flutes twitter and drums beat in the night
as they celebrate at her wedding feast.
Tsai Yen bears boy who suckles at her breast
as she sits on stone outside the deer-skin tent
and watches snowflakes swirl across the plain
and listens to wind whistling in her ears.
Giving silver coin to old carpenter,
she watches while he builds her small wood lute,
then she sits on shore of the sparkling river
and plucks strings as she gazes in dark water.
"When travelers come from the outside world
I listen to them tell stories with joy,
for I long to return to garden home
where I often played by the lily pond."
Walking with two sons on the river shore,
Tsai Yen teaches them words for everything,
then laughs as they run and play with the goats,
and gives them both sweet raspberries to eat.
Maodun who rode out with hunters at dawn
is brought back draped across back of his horse
since he was thrown and broke his neck on rocks,
so they lay his body before his tent.
Tsai Yen touches his face with trembling hand
and weeps surprised at sorrow of her heart
while their sons gaze silent at his black eyes
that stare up blank at the vast empty sky.
Teoman places silver ring on her head
and proclaims Tsai Yen the wife of his heart,
then flutes twitter and drums beat in the night
as they celebrate at her wedding feast.
Tsai Yen sits alone on the river shore
where she plucks the strings of her simple lute,
"My sorrow keeps flowing like this dark river
which carries my tears to the distant sea."
Tall warrior gallops on the river shore,
then stands beside her in the gleaming sun,
"I am Tsao Pi, son of Chancellor Tsao Tsao,
who has restored peace to the Han Empire."
Tsai Yen kneels in grass with tears in her eyes
but he lifts her up again to her feet,
"I have come to redeem you from this tribe,
and take you back home again to Luoyang."
Teoman accepts three gold coins from Tsao Pi
as payment to redeem Tsai Yen from slavery,
but declares she must leave her sons behind,
for they both belong to the Hsiung-Nu tribe.
Tsai Yen kneels before her boys as they cry,
"Our hearts are bound together by our blood,
so I cannot bear to part from my sons,
but I will never see your eyes again."
Her sons cling to her neck and cry surprised,
"Mother, why are you leaving us alone,
and will you ever come back home again
so we can play by the river and laugh?"
Wailing as she wrings her hands in despair,
Tsai Yen turns her face away from their eyes
and weeps as she climbs on back of the horse,
then gazes back as they fade in the wind.
Tsai Yen rides with Tsao Pi back to Luoyang,
"In China I lost my father and husband,
now in Hsiung-Nu I lose my playful sons
when I return to Luoyang without family."
Tsai Yen stands before gate of her old home
where she played her lute by the lily pond,
but she finds no one inside crumbling walls
except for the skulls and bones of her clan.
The city walls are covered with thick trees,
and courtyards and pavilions sprout brambles,
where Tsai Yen wanders without tears in wind,
finding only skeletons in the grass.
Standing by the pond where she finds her lute,
Tsai Yen hears wolves yelping in evening dusk,
"I face my orphan shadow in the grass
as grief and anger well up from my heart."
Tsai Yen young woman with flowing black hair
plucks strings of her lute by the lily pond,
singing about birds that twitter in trees,
and white clouds that shine in the clear blue pond.
"Though I am home I suffer homeless still,
for I fear I will be cast off again,
but how long can I endure aching sorrow,
since I will harbor my grief till my death?"
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