Have you read it? A Poem by Mao Zedong

[BYDbro]

TWO BIRDS: A DIALOGUE
--to the tune of Nien Nu Chiao

Autumn 1965


--------------------------------------
text-1

The roc wings fanwise,
Soaring ninety thousand li
And rousing a raging cyclone.
The blue sky on his back, he looks down
To survey Man's world with its towns and cities.
Gunfire licks the heavens,
Shells pit the earth.
A sparrow in his bush is scared stiff..
"This is one hell of a mess!
O I want to flit and fly away."
"Where, may I ask?"
The sparrow replies,
"To a jewelled palace in elfland's hills.
Don't you know a triple pact was signed
Under the bright autumn moon two years ago?
There'll be plenty to eat,
Potatoes piping hot,
Beef-filled goulash."
"Stop your windy nonsense!
Look, the world is being turned upside down."

************************************************

Text-2
Trasnslated into english by Huang Longzhe

TWO BIRDS: A DIALOGUE
--to the melody of Nien Nu Chiao

Autumn 1965

---------------------------------------------
The roc flaps his wings,
Soaring nine-myriad li high,
And stirring a cyclone whirling in rings.
He looks downward shouldering the azure sky,
Towns and cities in Man's world greeting the eye.
By cannon fire the heaven is rent and shocked,
The Whole globe shell-scarred and bullet-pocked,
And a sparrow amid Erigeron-Artemisia scared out
of wits with fright.
"There comes a great woe,
I'll seek refuge on flight."
"Whither sparrow?"
Replies the sparrow,
"To the jade pavilion in a fairyland I'll go.
In the year before last, you know, when the
bright autumn moon shinned,
A tripartite treaty was signed.
Furthermore, available to us is a delicacy refined,
Goulash-beef, a fine foodstuff,
Added to stewed potato."
"None of your windy stuff!
Behold, the old world we'll overthrow."

******************************************

Text3
Translated into english by Gu zhengkun

A DIALOGUE　BETWEEN TWO BIRDS
to the tune of Charm of Maiden NianNu

---------------------------------------------

Spreading his wings, the roc
Soars ninety thousand li to shock
The atmosphere into storms that unlock.
Flying beneath the blue sky,looking down,
He finds the human world covered by the
city and town.
The heaven-licking gunfire is heard,
Shells everywhere render the earth laired,
And a sparrow in the bush gets scared:
"Oh,how terrible here to stay,
I must at once fly away!"

"Tell me where your destination flies?"
The sparrow replies:
"To a fairies hill where jaded palaces rise.
The autumn moon shone brighter two years ago
When three sides signed a pact,don't you know?
There are also things to chew:
Potatoes cooked well,
With beef added,too."
No passing wind, you bird,
Look,the heaven and the earth are upside
down transferred.
(Autumn,1965)
===========================================
notes:

1.the roc in the poem stands for the Communist Party of China while the
sparrow in the bush the Soviet Revisionists.

2.storms: storms of revolution in the world

3.three sides signed a pact:
referring to the convention on prohibition of nuclear experiment within
atmosphere,outerspace and under the sea signed by GB,USA and SU in
Moscow in july and August,1963.Chairman Mao regarded the convention as a
political fraud intended to maintain the monopoly of nuclear powers
within several countries while depriving the rest of the countries of
the right to experiment with nuclear- weapons.

4.Potatoes cooked well,/with beef added,too:
NiKita khrushchev generalized what he called communism as a need for a
good dish of potatoes well cooked with beef.

5.The heaven and the earth are upside down:
On January 30,1962,at an extended meeting of the Central Committee of
the Chinese Communist Part held in Peking,Mao Zedong said :"From now on,
the period of about fifty or one hundred years will be a grat age,in
which the social systems of the world will see a thorough change and the
heaven and the earth will be upside down;it will be an era that will
come to pale any other periods in history."

[BYDbro]

Mao's another poem
=========================




REPLY TO COMRADE GUO MORUO
to the tune of Riverful Red

Flies， a few， dash themselves against the wall
Of this globe small.
Listen! How they hum around the ball,
Shrill with fears And sob in tears.
Boasting， Ants deem their nest in the Locust tree a big state,
So funny, mayflies all conspire to shake the tree gigantically great.
Now in Chang-an the west wind scatters the fallen leaves down
Like whistling arrows flying and gone.


Things are too many indeed,
To be done in urgent need.
Heaven and earth move around,
Time in greatest demand.
Ten thousand years are too long to delay,
Be sure to seize the night and day.
Four seas rage with clouds and waters in anger，
Five continents rock roaring the wind and thunder.
To eradicate all pests on this small star,
Mightily invincible we are!
(January 9,1963)

============================================


On this tiny globe
A few flies dash themselves against the wall,
Humming without cease,
Sometimes shrilling,
Sometimes moaning.
Ants on the locust tree assume a great-nation swagger
And mayflies lightly plot to topple the giant tree.
The west wind scatters leaves over Chang-an,
And the arrows are flying, twanging.
So many deeds cry out to be done,
And always urgently;
The world rolls on,
Time presses.
Ten thousand years are too long,
Seize the day, seize the hour!
The Four Seas are rising, clouds and waters raging,
The Five Continents are rocking, wind and thunder roaring.
Our force is irresistible,
Away with all pests!
==============================================

REPLY TO COMRADE GUO MORUO
to the melody of Man Jiang Hong
January 9,1963

On this globe, petit and small,
Several flies dash their heads against the wall,
They are humming
With a burst of shrilling
And a fit of weeping.
On the locust the ants pose as a self-vaunted
big power,
For a camponotus ligniperdus to rock the giant tree is far from easy and
light,
Down Chang-an the west-swept leaves shower, And rattling arrows are
winging their flight.

There are many deeds so important
And ever so urgent.
Heaven’s and earth’s revolution never ceases,
Time presses.
Too long is a myriad years'delay,
Seize the morn and even as tight as you may.
Clouds and waters raging, the Four Seas are chopping；
Wind and thunder raving, the Five Continents are rocking.
Away with all vermin!
We’ll invincibly win.
==============================================

[W.Dockery]

Post by BYDbro
TWO BIRDS: A DIALOGUE
--to the tune of Nien Nu Chiao
Autumn 1965
--------------------------------------
text-1
The roc wings fanwise,
Soaring ninety thousand li
And rousing a raging cyclone.
The blue sky on his back, he looks down
To survey Man's world with its towns and cities.
Gunfire licks the heavens,
Shells pit the earth.
A sparrow in his bush is scared stiff..
"This is one hell of a mess!
O I want to flit and fly away."
"Where, may I ask?"
The sparrow replies,
"To a jewelled palace in elfland's hills.
Don't you know a triple pact was signed
Under the bright autumn moon two years ago?
There'll be plenty to eat,
Potatoes piping hot,
Beef-filled goulash."
"Stop your windy nonsense!
Look, the world is being turned upside down."
************************************************
Text-2
Trasnslated into english by Huang Longzhe
TWO BIRDS: A DIALOGUE
--to the melody of Nien Nu Chiao
Autumn 1965
---------------------------------------------
The roc flaps his wings,
Soaring nine-myriad li high,
And stirring a cyclone whirling in rings.
He looks downward shouldering the azure sky,
Towns and cities in Man's world greeting the eye.
By cannon fire the heaven is rent and shocked,
The Whole globe shell-scarred and bullet-pocked,
And a sparrow amid Erigeron-Artemisia scared out
of wits with fright.
"There comes a great woe,
I'll seek refuge on flight."
"Whither sparrow?"
Replies the sparrow,
"To the jade pavilion in a fairyland I'll go.
In the year before last, you know, when the
bright autumn moon shinned,
A tripartite treaty was signed.
Furthermore, available to us is a delicacy refined,
Goulash-beef, a fine foodstuff,
Added to stewed potato."
"None of your windy stuff!
Behold, the old world we'll overthrow."
******************************************
Text3
Translated into english by Gu zhengkun
A DIALOGUE　BETWEEN TWO BIRDS
to the tune of Charm of Maiden NianNu
---------------------------------------------
Spreading his wings, the roc
Soars ninety thousand li to shock
The atmosphere into storms that unlock.
Flying beneath the blue sky,looking down,
He finds the human world covered by the
city and town.
The heaven-licking gunfire is heard,
Shells everywhere render the earth laired,
"Oh,how terrible here to stay,
I must at once fly away!"
"Tell me where your destination flies?"
"To a fairies hill where jaded palaces rise.
The autumn moon shone brighter two years ago
When three sides signed a pact,don't you know?
Potatoes cooked well,
With beef added,too."
No passing wind, you bird,
Look,the heaven and the earth are upside
down transferred.
(Autumn,1965)
===========================================
1.the roc in the poem stands for the Communist Party of China while the
sparrow in the bush the Soviet Revisionists.
2.storms: storms of revolution in the world
referring to the convention on prohibition of nuclear experiment within
atmosphere,outerspace and under the sea signed by GB,USA and SU in
Moscow in july and August,1963.Chairman Mao regarded the convention as a
political fraud intended to maintain the monopoly of nuclear powers
within several countries while depriving the rest of the countries of
the right to experiment with nuclear- weapons.
NiKita khrushchev generalized what he called communism as a need for a
good dish of potatoes well cooked with beef.
On January 30,1962,at an extended meeting of the Central Committee of
the Chinese Communist Part held in Peking,Mao Zedong said :"From now on,
the period of about fifty or one hundred years will be a grat age,in
which the social systems of the world will see a thorough change and the
heaven and the earth will be upside down;it will be an era that will
come to pale any other periods in history."

Thanks for posting, having a read.