The Song of Mulan

One sigh after another,
Mulan sat opposite the door weaving;
But no sound of the shuttle was heard,
Except the sighs of the girl.

When asked what she was pondering over,
When asked what she had called to mind,
Nothing special the girl was pondering over,
Nothing special the girl had called to mind.

"Last night I saw the draft dispatch,
The Khan is mustering a mighty army;
The roster consists of many muster rolls,
And every roll has Father’s name on it.

Father has no grown son,
Nor Mulan an elder brother;
I want to buy a saddle and a horse,
And from now on fight in place of my father."

In the eastern market she bought a fine steed,
In the western market a saddle and a pad,
In the southern market a bridle,
In the northern market a long whip.

At daybreak she bid farewell to her parents,
At sunset she bivouacked by the Yellow River;
What met her ear was no longer her parents’ call,
But the gurgles and splashes of the rushing waters.

At daybreak she left the Yellow River,
At sunset she arrived at the top of the Black Hill;
What met her ear was no longer her parents’ call,
But the Hun horses neighing in the Yanshan Mountains.

On the expedition of thousands of miles to the war,
She dashed across mountains and passes as if in flight;
In the chilly northern air night watches clanged,
In the frosty moonlight mailed coats glistened.

Generals laid down their lives in a hundred battles,
And valiant soldiers returned after ten years in the service.
When she returned to an audience with the Son of Heaven,
The Son of Heaven sat in the Hall of Brightness.

A promotion of many ranks was granted her for her merits,
With a reward that amounted to thousands of strings of cash.
The Khan asked Mulan what she desired to do,
"I don't need any high official position,
Please lend me a sturdy camel that is fleet of foot,
And send me bank to my hometown.

When her parents heard their daughter was coming,
They walked out of the town, each helping the other;
When her elder sister heard the younger sister was coming,
She decked herself out in her best by the door;
When her younger brother heard his elder sister was coming,
He whetted a knife and aimed it at a pig and a sheep.

"I opened the door of my east chamber,
And then sat down on the bed in my west chamber;
Taking off the mailed coat worn in wartime,
I attired myself in my apparel of former times;
By the window I combed and coiffed my cloudy hair,
Before the mirror I adorned my forehead with a yellow pattern."

When she came out to meet her battle companions,
They were all astounded and thrown into bewilderment.
Together they had been in the army for a dozen years or so,
Yet none had ever known that Mulan was actually a girl.

The male rabbit kicks its fluffy feet as it scampers,
The eyes of female rabbit are blurred by fluffy tufts of hair,
But when they run side by side in the field,
You can hardly tell the doe from the buck!

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