Border Songs 3, Lu Lun (Tang Shi #258)
Saturday, 22 June 2019 10:18![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammerA moonless night: wild geese fly high—
The nomad chieftain flees by night.
The general’s wish: Horsemen, pursue!
The thick snow coats their curving sabers.
塞下曲 首三
月黑雁飞高，
单于夜遁逃。
欲将轻骑逐，
大雪满弓刀。
I *think* that’s how to construe the last line—unless it’s that the waving sabers fill the spaces between heavy snowflakes. The sabers (弓刀: gōngdāo) are, interestingly, recurved like bows. Lost in translation: the would-be pursuers are specifically light cavalry.
—L.
The nomad chieftain flees by night.
The general’s wish: Horsemen, pursue!
The thick snow coats their curving sabers.
塞下曲 首三
月黑雁飞高，
单于夜遁逃。
欲将轻骑逐，
大雪满弓刀。
I *think* that’s how to construe the last line—unless it’s that the waving sabers fill the spaces between heavy snowflakes. The sabers (弓刀: gōngdāo) are, interestingly, recurved like bows. Lost in translation: the would-be pursuers are specifically light cavalry.
—L.