回乡偶书

回乡偶书

译/李雪梅

Returning Home

By He Zhizhang

A youngster I left home; an old man I come back.

Still the same my accent, hair on head is what I lack.

Kids of folks know me not; they see a stranger on his way.

Curious smiles on their face, "where are you from", ask they.

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回乡偶书

Home Returning

Poem/He Zhizhang, Translation/Shu Jihuai

Embarked on my voyage as a youngster, though I finally returned much older

My tongue barely changed, but hair grew grey, and thinner

A little folk encountered me as a stranger

Asked with a curious smile, where are you from, my dear visitor?

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回乡偶书

A poem about Hometown

Translated by Samson

I become old at my back home day,

while I was a boy when going away.

Speaking the same dialect everyday,

All my hair have turned grey.

I walk in my village when the trees sway,

but children don't know me and run away,

They laugh and wonder where I am from,

Call me a stranger and ask me where to stay.

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回乡偶书

译/阮大侠

I bade farewells to my hometown when I was young, but returned much older on this day,

My tongue is the same though my hair grew gray.

Little ones look at me as a complete stranger,

"Where are you from?", with smiles they ask the visitor from away.