On My Laziness

〈詠慵詩〉

On My Laziness

 白居易

by Bai Juyi

Translated by Yoyo

With help from Stephen Owen's An Anthology of Chinese Literature

Owen, Stephen. An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. 498-99. Print.

有官慵不選，有田慵不農。

With office I'm lazy to serve, With crops I'm lazy to farm.

屋穿慵不葺，衣裂慵不縫。

With holes on the roof I'm lazy to mend, With ripped cloths I'm lazy to stitch.

有酒慵不酌，無異樽長空。

With wine I'm lazy to pour, no difference pouring into eternal emptiness.

有琴慵不彈，亦与無弦同。

With zither I'm lazy to pluck, like the famous "Harp Without Strings."

家人告飯盡，欲炊慵不舂。

The family tells there is no more food, I'd wish for a bowl but too lazy to carve one.

親朋寄書至，欲讀慵開封。

Close friends send letters, I wish to read but too lazy to open the seal

常聞嵇叔夜，一生在慵中。

I often hear Xi Shu Ye, was lazy his entire life

彈琴復鍛鐵，比我未為慵。

He plucked the zither and smelted metal, he was not as lazy as me.