Classic Poem

Heaving a sigh and then another sigh,
Mulan was sitting weaving at her door
And could not hear the noise of loom and shuttle,
but only the sound of the girl lamenting
O lady, are you thinking of your love?
O lady, are you brooding on your love? "
Indeed, I have no love at all to think of,
Indeed I have no love at all to brood on
But then last night I heard the battle-roll,
The Khan is calling up a mighty levy.
The battle-roll was written in twelve scrolls,
And every scroll carried my father's name.
My father has no grown-up son at all,
And I myself have got no elder brother.
I want to buy a saddle and a horse,
To take my father's place in the expedition. "
In the eastern market she bought a noble horse,
In the western market bought a blanket and saddle.
In the southern market bought a bridle and reins,
In the northern market bought a long whip.
At break of day she took leave of her father and mother,
At evening camped on the banks of the Yellow River.
She did not hear her father and mother calling for their daughter,
She only heard the Yellow River's flowing waters murmuring.
At break of day she left the Yellow River,
At dusk she came to the edge of the Black Hills.
She did not hear her father and mother calling for their daughter.
She only heard the nomad horses whinnying on the hills of Yan.
Ten thousand leagues she rode on missions of war,
Passes and mountains she crossed like a bird on the wing.
On the northern wind came the sound of the sentry's drum.
The wintry light glinted upon her armor.
After a hundred battles the general was killed,
Ten years passed by and the warriors could go home.
When she came back she was summoned by the Son of Heaven,
The Son of Heaven was seated in the Hall of Light.
For her brave deeds she was raised up full twelve ranks,
And given a reward of one hundred cash
The Khan asked her to state just what she wanted
" Oh, I do not want to be a court official
But lend me a camel will go a thousand leagues a day,
To take me back to my old home. "
When her father and mother heard their daughter was back,
Leaning on each other, they went out of the suburb gates.
When the elder sister heard her little sister had come,
She went to the door and put rouge on her face.
When her little brother heard his elder sister had come,
He whetted his knife and darted like lightning
Towards the pigs and goats.
" I opened the gates that led to the eastern apartments,
I sat down on my bed in the western apartments
Then I took off my soldier's robes
And put on the dress that I was wont to wear.
I stood at the window to dress my cloudy hair
I went to the mirror and put on my yellow makeup
I went out of the gates and saw my mess-mates,
And what a shock they got on seeing me! "
" Oh we were living with you for full twelve years,
Yet never knew that Mulan was a girl! "
For the male hare tucks its feet in when it sits,
And the female hare is known by her bleary eye.
But when two hares are bounding side by side,
How can you then tell female from the male?