Autumn Wind 秋風

By Yuan Xi from White Cloud Poetry Society | Version A | Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Damian Robin 文：白雲詩社 元曦 | 英文翻譯：曾錚 Damian Robin

From far off, Autumn wind runs at us in a rush!
Across a thousand miles, displacing clouds with sky,
(And crowding through the dark, tense soldiers in a hush*),
Then past the cliff, through countless pines, like echoes fly.

Version B | Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Gerard Traub

From the end of the remote horizon The autumn wind blows Dashing over a thousand miles Raising clouds into the sky. Penetrating through the forest Like soldiers preparing an attack at night* Passing the cliffs Leaving countless pines echoing into the valley.

*  "銜枚走" (hold in mouth/bear, trunk, walk) is hard to translate or make much sense in English. It has no overt reference to soldiers, battle, or night attack. The author,Yuan Xi, said that in old times when soldiers were launching an attack secretly, they usually held something in their mouth - and put something like a tree branch inside their horses' mouths - so that there would be no "unexpected" sound to betray their suprise attack. Xi said when the wind passed through the woods, it gave her a feeling of tension, secrecy, just like that of a secret attack in the night. "銜枚走" is easy to understand in  Chinese, as in movies these scenes are often shown; but in English, people could find it hard to understand. So Xi agreed with the statement of a soldiers' secret attack.

遼天之末起秋風

千里長驅浮雲空

穿林初疑銜枚走

過崖猶響萬壑松