Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/27

Rh You seemed a guileless youth enough, Offering for silk your woven stuff; But silk was not required by you; I was the silk you had in view. With you I crossed the ford, and while We wandered on for many a mile I said, 'I do not wish delay, But friends must fix our wedding-day. . . Oh, do not let my words give pain, But with hke autumn come again.'

"And then I used to watch and wait To see you passing through the gate; And sometimes, when I watched in vain, My tears would flow like falling rain; But when I saw my darling boy, I laughed and cried aloud for joy. The fortune-tellers, you declared, Had all pronounced us duly paired; 'Then bring a carriage,' I replied, 'And I'll away to be your bride.'

"The mulberry-leaf, not yet undone By autumn chill, shines in the sun. O tender dove, I would advise, Beware the fruit that tempts thy eyes! O maiden fair, not yet a spouse, List lightly not to lovers' vows! A man may do this wrong, and time Will fling its shadow o'er his crime; A woman who has lost her name Is doomed to everlasting shame.

"The mulberry-tree upon the ground Now sheds its yellow leaves around. Three years have slipped away from me Since first I shared your poverty; And now again, alas the day! Back through the ford I take my way.