Farming Households
田 家 词
牛 吒 吒， 田 确 确
早 块 敲 牛 蹄 趵 趵
种 得 官 仓 珠 颗 谷。
六 十 年 来 兵 蔟 蔟
月 月 食 粮 车 辘 辘
一 日 官 军 收 海 服
驱 牛 驾 车 食 牛 肉；
归 来 攸 得 牛 两 争
重 铸 锄 犁 作 斤 劚
姑 舂 妇 担 去 输 官
输 官 不 是 归 卖 屋。
愿 官 早 胜 雠 早 覆
农 死 有 儿 牛 有 犊。
誓 不 遣 官 军 粮 不 足.
Tian Jia Ci
Niu zha zha, tian que que
Zao kuai qiao niu ti bo bo.
Zhong de guan cang zhu ke gu.
Liu shi nian lai bing cu cu
Yue yue shi liang che lu lu
Yi ri guan jun shou hai fu
Qu niu jia che shi niu rou;
Gui lai you de niu liang zheng
Chong zhu chu li zuo jin zhu.
Gu chong fu dan qu shu guan
Shu guan bu shi gui mai wu.
Yuan huan zao sheng chou zao fu
Shi bu qian guan jun liang bu zu
Nong si you er niu you du.
Farming Households
Oxen panting, fields hard and firm
Early morning oxen cry out loud with each painful footfall.
Farmers grow a type of pearl barley that supplies the government’s storehouses
After sixty years, the northern nomad soldiers are still thieves.
Every month, the sounds of turning cart wheels carry away their food
One day we defeated our oceanside enemies, to feed our assembled army.
For the farmers, they rely upon the meat from once-harnessed oxen
What is only left of our deceased ox are his two horns.
The only way we can grow food is by using hoes with homemade handles
My wife has to use a shoulder pole to till and prepare a growing plot.
Without enough food to pay our taxes, we have to sell our house
I hope our armies have early success so our farmers can recover.
After the old men die, families only have the oxen calves
Unfortunately there is not enough food for both the government army, and for the farming households.