洛陽女兒行 王維

洛陽女兒行     王維 (701-761)
洛陽女兒對門居，才可容顏十五餘。
良人玉勒乘驄馬，侍女金盤膾鯉魚。
畫閣朱樓盡相望，紅桃綠柳垂檐向。
羅幃送上七香車，寶扇迎歸九華帳。
狂夫富貴在青春，意氣驕奢劇季倫。
自憐碧玉親教舞，不惜珊瑚持與人。
春窗曙滅九微火，九微片片飛花璅 。
戲罷曾無理曲時，妝成衹是熏香坐。
城中相識盡繁華，日夜經過趙李家。
誰憐越女顏如玉，貧賤江頭自浣沙。

The Daughter of a Luoyang Household      

Wang Wei (701-761)

This daughter of a Luoyang household lives just vis a vis to my abode,

She looks fifteen at the most,
Her husband rides a courser with a jade bridle,
Her maid serves her carp bisque in a gold bowl,
Her garnished chambers and vermillion pavilions stand fulgently grand and tall,
Over their eaves crimson peach blossoms and green willows veil,
Maids help her out from her silk portieres and usher her into her fragrant carriage when she goes to tie up her espousals,  
Exquisite fans are uphurled to usher her into her luxurious ninefold upholstered conjugal boudoir when she recoils,
Her arrogant husband comes from a family rich and powerful,
More pompous and extravagant than Shi Chong of old,
So fond of his beautiful wife he teaches her to dance by his own,
To show off his richness he even gives away precious corals,
In spring mornings when the wind has the lamplight blown off,
Wisps of smoke fly away like minute flower petals,
After exchanging banters they wouldn’t care even to play music for a while,
After her sprucing up they just sit leisurely amidst the musk scented household,
All his friends in the city are rich and exulted,
Day and night he frequents the Lis and Chaos to make calls,
Who would cherish Xi Shi the abjectly poor Yue girl,
Who started only as a laundry girl on the river mole.