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MY QUEST, TO THE
TUNE OF "THE WHOLE RIVER RED"
YUE FEI
Rage bristling
under the cap,
I lean against the railing;
The rushing rain has ceased.
Lifting my eyes,
Towards the sky I let out a battle cry;
My blood is boiling.
Thirty years: rank and honour, just so much dust;
Eight hundred leagues: travelling with the moon and clouds.
Do not let it slip away;
When a young man's head turns grey,
Regret will be too late.
The national insult
Is yet to be avenged;
Your servants' shame:
When will it be erased?
Let us ride the long chariots
To crush those mountain strongholds.
Glorious quest: to feast on the flesh of the invaders.
We laugh and chat and quench our thirst with Tartar blood.
Let us start
To take back our rivers and mountains,
And report to the Heavenly Palace.
Translated by Tommy
W.K. Tao, Vancouver, B.C.
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