胡笳本自出胡中，绿琴翻出音律同。
十八拍兮曲虽终，响有余兮思未穷。
是知丝竹微妙兮均造化之功，哀乐各随人心兮有变则通。
胡与汉兮异域殊风，天与地隔兮子西母东。
苦我怨气兮浩于长空，六合离兮受之应不容。
Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute
Cai
Yan
Song
18
The
nomad flute originally came from the nomads themselves,
Matched
with the qin, their music follows the same patterns.
With
these eighteen stanzas, my song is finished,
But
the tones continue, and my longing is without end.
From
this we know how subtle strings and pipes may be; they reflect the work of
creation,
In
sorrow and joy they follow men's hearts, and transform to match them.
The
nomads and Han, different lands, different customs,
Heaven
and earth separate us, alas! children west, mother east.
Bitter
am I, angry my spirit, flooding to the great void,
The
length and breadth of the universe cannot contain this feeling!