English Rendering
The banquet has been readied in the hall
To entertain my kith and kin and all.
A festive banquet busies the kitchen house,
With cocks killing and boiling sheep and cows.
The zheng music excites a frenzied wildness;
The se music soothes with gentle mildness.
How the dancers dance with pretty poise;
How the singers sing with a tender voice.
In high spirits the guests begin to wine;
In good appetite the guests begin to dine.
I give the guests lots of gold when they part;
They wish me a long life for my good heart.
They say that they take me as an eternal friend
And otherwise they'll come to no good end.
I say that I'm just doing what I can
And I'll not ask favour from any man.
With sudden gales,the sun goes past its best;
With time and tide,the sun runs to the west.
The prime of life will by no means return;
The flight of time is my foremost concer.
Today we seek great pleasure in the hall;
Soon we'll be like the leaves that shrink and fall.
Whoever in the world will never die?
Why should I worry?Why should I?