江南女
江南蕩風俗。養女嬌且憐。冶性恥針線。粧成調管絃。所學非雅音。多被春心牽。自謂芳華色。長占艷陽年。却笑隣舍女。終朝弄機杼。機杼縱勞身。羅衣不到汝。
A Girl of Jiangnan
In Jiangnan the customs run loose and wild, They raise their daughters delicate and mild. With idle natures scorning needle's thread, They dress them up to play the pipes instead. No taste for noble music do they seek— Their melodies are all of spring's critique. They boast of beauty, bloom, and youthful grace, Believing eternal spring adorns their face. Yet how they mock the neighbor's working daughter, Who works her loom from dawn till twilight's water. Though weaving wears her body to the bone, The finest silks she'll never call her own.