The animation movie Mulan is very familiar to most Americans. Disney successfully tells a traditional Chinese story in Hollywood style. Mulan is a strong-minded independent woman. She represents woman power against discrimination. That's what the movie mostly focuses on. Actually, Mulan's story comes from a ballad in ancient China. Now the music of this ballad is lost, but the lyric tells the story generation to generation. It's basically like a long five-word poem in classical Chinese. I read two English translated versions of the Ballad of Mulan. Here's the one I think it's better. It tells how Mulan loves her father and overcomes obstacles. I like the last sentence of this ballad a lot. It's a great metaphor. It can be understood as this: Male and female are born with different talents, but they are identical when they occupy the same activity.
- The sound of one sigh after another,
- As Mulan weaves at the doorway.
- No sound of the loom and shuttle,
- Only that of the girl lamenting.
- Ask her of whom she thinks,
- Ask her for whom she longs.
- "There is no one I think of,
- There is no one I long for.
- Last night I saw the army notice,
- The Khan is calling a great draft -
- A dozen volumes of battle rolls,
- Each one with my father's name.
- My father has no grown-up son,
- And I have no elder brother.
- I'm willing to buy a horse and saddle,
- To go to battle in my father's place."
- She buys a fine steed at the east market;
- A saddle and blanket at the west market;
- A bridle at the south market;
- And a long whip at the north market.
- She takes leave of her parents at dawn,
- To camp beside the Yellow River at dusk.
- No sound of her parents hailing their girl,
- Just the rumbling waters of the Yellow River.
- She leaves the Yellow River at dawn,
- To reach the Black Mountains by dusk.
- No sound of her parents hailing their girl,
- Just the cries of barbarian cavalry in the Yan hills.
- Ten thousand miles she rode in war,
- Crossing passes and mountains as if on a wing.
- On the northern air comes the sentry's gong,
- Cold light shines on her coat of steel.
- The general dead after a hundred battles,
- The warriors return after ten years.
- They return to see the Son of Heaven,
- Who sits in the Hall of Brilliance.
- The rolls of merit spin a dozen times,
- Rewards in the hundreds and thousands.
- The Khan asks her what she desires,
- "I've no need for the post of a gentleman official,
- I ask to borrow a camel fleet of foot,
- To carry me back to my hometown."
- Her parents hearing their girl returns,
- Out to the suburbs to welcome her back.
- Elder sister hearing her sister returns,
- Adjusts her rouge by the doorway.
- Little brother hearing his sister returns,
- Sharpens his knife for pigs and lamb.
- "I open my east chamber door,
- And sit on my west chamber bed.
- I take off my battle cloak,
- And put on my old-time clothes.
- I adjust my wispy hair at the window sill,
- And apply my bisque makeup by the mirror.
- I step out to see my comrades-in-arms,
- They are all surprised and astounded:
- 'We travelled twelve years together,
- Yet didn't realise Mulan was a lady!'"
- The buck bounds here and there,
- Whilst the doe has narrow eyes.
- But when the two rabbits run side by side,
- How can you tell the female from the male?
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