1月7日

明日
明 文嘉 ( 1501~1583 )

明日復明日，明日何其多；
日日待明日，萬事成蹉跎。
世人皆被明日累，無日無窮老將至。
晨昏滾滾水東流，今日悠悠日西墜。
百年明日能幾何？請君聽我明日歌。

──選自《文氏五家集》

January 7th

Tomorrow
Wen Jia (1501 - 1583, Ming Dynasty)
English translation: Miao Guang

One tomorrow after another,
There are so many tomorrows.
Waiting each day for a tomorrow,
All of today shall go to waste.

We are all burdened by tomorrow,
Unaware of nearing old age when deluded by endless tomorrows.

Rolling waves flow eastwards at dusk and dawn,
The sun falls westward at the end of a long leisurely today.
How many tomorrows do we get in life?
Please hear this song of tomorrow by me.

── from Wenshi Wujia Ji
(Collected Works by Five Masters of the Wen Family)