As Beautiful as Flowers

Like a Flower (Hetu)

At night, she lights a lamp

And gazes out again and again at the wide river and low clouds

A few cries of geese break through the clouds, while the west wind scatters so many thoughts of him

She wonders if he is grinding ink beneath his lamp

A top scholar, whose every word is worth a thousand gold pieces

She waits for him to return in glory, one year passing, then another

Who rides by the ferry on horseback?

He turns back and calls for a drink

Then softly asks whose daughter she is

Like a flower, so beautiful, for whom does she wait?

For eighteen years, she has stood by the little ferry crossing

For eighteen years, her tender love has kept him in the Moonlit Tower

That solitary sail drifts farther and farther away

Taking all her youth with it

The willows along the riverbank, their countless branches and leaves,

Cannot hold back the rushing waters

Spring flowers bloom and fall again

The autumn wind blows summer away

Snow falls through winter, and another year passes

She waits until snow has covered her brows

The storyteller's block sounds once

In the story, she is still waiting

The storyteller closes his fan and begins again

Who lowers their eyes, tears soaking their sleeves?

She walks along the willows by the bank

To the little ferry crossing at sunset

The scenery is still as gentle as it used to be

But the river flows on, never to return

How many years has this kind of waiting stolen from someone? Time flies like a white colt glimpsed through a crack. Who could know a beauty would grow old in the blink of an eye?

In the story, Susu waited for so long, yet her beloved never came riding home. The world is full of unpredictable change. Looking back, everything has changed, and tears rise before she can speak.

Fortunately, Heaven was not unkind to Susu. In the end, she found someone willing to grow old by her side and live an ordinary, peaceful life.