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Ballad of the Ancient Cypress
Du Fu

古柏行

孔明庙前有老柏
柯如青铜根如石
霜皮溜雨四十围
黛色参天二千尺
君臣已与时际会
树木犹为人爱惜
云来气接巫峡长
月出寒通雪山白

忆昨路绕锦亭东
先主武侯同閟宫
崔嵬枝干郊原古
窈窕丹青户牖空
落落盘踞虽得地
冥冥孤高多烈风
扶持自是神明力
正直原因造化功

大厦如倾要梁栋
万牛回首丘山重
不露文章世已惊
未辞剪伐谁能送
苦心岂免容蝼蚁
香叶终经宿鸾凤
志士幽人莫怨嗟
古来材大难为用

gǔ bó xíng

kǒng míng miào qián yǒu lǎo bó
kē rú qīng tóng gēn rú shí
shuāng pí liù yǔ sì shí wéi
dài sè cān tiān èr qiān chǐ
jūn chén yǐ yǔ shí jì huì
shù mù yóu wéi rén ài xī
yún lái qì jiē wū xiá cháng
yuè chū hán tōng xuě shān bái

yì zuó lù rào jǐn tíng dōng
xiān zhǔ wǔ hóu tóng bì gōng
cuī wéi zhī gàn jiāo yuán gǔ
yáo tiáo dān qīng hù yǒu kōng
luò luò pán jù suī dé dì
míng míng gū gāo duō liè fēng
fú chí zì shì shén míng lì
zhèng zhí yuán yīn zào huà gōng

dà shà rú qīng yào liáng dòng
wàn niú huí shǒu qiū shān zhòng
bú lù wén zhāng shì yǐ jīng
wèi cí jiǎn fá shuí néng sòng
kǔ xīn qǐ miǎn róng lóu yǐ
xiāng yè zhōng jīng sù luán fèng
zhì shì yōu rén mò yuàn jiē
gǔ lái cái dà nán wéi yòng

Before Kongming's shrine stands an ancient cypress,
Its branches are like green bronze, its roots just like stone.
The frosted bark, slippery with rain, is forty spans around,
Its blackness blends into the sky two thousand feet above.
Master and servant have each already reached their time's end,
The tree, however, still remains, receiving men's devotion.
Clouds come and bring the air of Wuxia gorge's vastness,
The moon comes out, along with the cold of snowy mountain whiteness.

I think back to the winding road, east of Brocade Pavilion,
Where the military master and his lord of old share a hidden temple.
Towering that trunk, those branches, on the ancient plain,
Hidden paintings, red and black, doors and windows empty.
Spreading wide, coiling down, though it holds the earth,
In the dim and distant heights are many violent winds.
That which gives it its support must be heaven's strength,
The reason for its uprightness, the creator's skill.

If a great hall should teeter, wanting rafters and beams,
Ten thousand oxen would turn their heads towards its mountain's weight.
Its potential unrevealed, the world's already amazed,
Nothing would stop it being felled, but what man could handle it?
Its bitter heart cannot avoid the entry of the ants,
Its fragrant leaves have always given shelter to the phoenix.
Ambitious scholars, reclusive hermits- neither needs to sigh;
Always it's the greatest timber that's hardest to put to use.