A Dream of Floating Life, Accompanied by Laughter

All my life, I've resented being born a woman. A century of joy and sorrow lies in others' hands.

Though I know I should have left this world, fate insists on playing cruel games with me.

Beneath the imperial capital, they vie for power and the throne, fight on the battlefield, rule the six palaces, govern state affairs, and scheme against one another.

A touch of vermilion, two silk handkerchiefs, three or five letters carried by wild geese, and the flowers of spring are thrown into disarray.

Six strings ripple green, the seven stars hang overhead. I drink to my longing, too weary to play the pipa for ten years.

I still remember the tender dream of books and love, the rain on the eaves of the tower reflected in the water.

Yet here I am, hoping for dreams, for awakening, for a fleeting life, half-drunk and half-awake, day after day! How did it all turn out to be nothing but a dream?