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A bright moon rising above Tian Shan Mountain,
Lost in a vast ocean of clouds.
The long wind, across thousands upon thousands of miles,
Blows past the Jade-gate Pass.
The army of Han has gone down the Baiteng Road,
As the barbarian hordes probe at Qinghai Bay.
It is known that from the battlefield
Few ever live to return.
Men at Garrison look on the border scene,
Home thoughts deepen sorrow on their faces.
In the towered chambers tonight,
Ceaseless are the women's sighs.
--Li Bai
Disclaimers: (1) This poem probably has a name, but I don't know it for sure, so I've used the first line to name it, and left the Yivokuchi title unspecified. (2) Classical Chinese is not English, and this is a translation of a translation, so any faults or stylistic flaws should be blamed on the English translator (not me). Inevitably, they will also reflect on the Yivokuchi rendering, coupled with my own clumsiness.
Read other poems by Li Bai: Drinking Alone Under the Moon, Question and Answer on the Mountain. Li Bai (also known as Li Po) is one of the most famous Classical Chinese poets.
Fir trebina weyim ubul Jhao Tian Chan,
Tejhalria melos ciekheba.
Rey drusi lin olosim yisis sis teba
Dele golartau Vekhia Cog Beowak.
Tiaugh Khan olodelse inic Paiten,
Ucielitia vebakami yoles iw bRum Cinkhai.
Biriande itiwtayeoch
Keprila aukhe gamses.
Kaka uvinkuarodi cire gaur dibgebi
Jegur yiyaolsiuch yiselragh ciugakomo umnan yin
Ugaif bruwi midi yue wo
Alcesende avirey itekeki.
1. Fir trebina weyim ubul Jhao Tian Chan,
fir trebin-a wey -im u- bul jhao Tian Chan
moon bright-NDF rise-SUS ESS-above mountain Tian Shan
2. Tejhalria melos ciekheba.
tejhalria m- e= los ciekheb -a
lost ESS-MPH=great cloudy_sky-NDF
3. Rey drusi lin olosim yisis sis teba
rey drus-i li- n olo= s -im yi- sis sis teb -a
wind long-DEF COM-OBJ along=come-SUS GEN-3600 3600 mile-NDF
4. Dele golartau Vekhia Cog Beowak.
del-e go- lar=tau Vekhia Cog Beowak
go -PRS ALL-out=beyond pass gate jade
5. Tiaugh Khan olodelse inic Paiten,
Tiaugh Khan olo= del-s -e inic Paiten,
army Han along=go -PRF-PRS road Baiteng
6. Ucielitia vebakami yoles iw bRum Cinkhai.
ucielitia vebakam -i yol -e -s iw b- rum Cinkhai
horde barbarian-DEF test-PRS-CNJ place ESS-gulf Qinghai
7. Biriande itiwtayeoch
bir -ia =n =de it- iwtayeo -ch
know-PAP=OBJ=COP GEN-battlefield-DEF
8. Keprila aukhe gamses.
kepril-a aukh-e gams -e -s
few -NDF live-PRS return-PRS-CNJ
9. Kaka uvinkuarodi cire gaur dibgebi
ka=ka u- vinkuarod-i cir -e gaur dibgeb -i
man=DUP ESS-garrison -DEF look-PRS around frontier-DEF
10. Jegur yiyaolsiuch yiselragh ciugakomo umnan yin
jegur yi- yaolsiu-ch yi- selragh ciug-a =komo um- nan yi- n
thought GEN-home -DEF GEN-sadness deep-NDF=CAU ESS-face GEN-OBJ
11. Ugaif bruwi midi yue wo
u- gaif b- ruw -i midi yue wo
ESS-chamber ESS-tower-DEF time night this
12. Alcesende avirey itekeki.
al- ces -en =de avirey it- ek =ek -i
NEG-cease-ACP=COP sigh GEN-woman=DUP-DEF
1. Note the use of the suspensive form weyim to introduce contextual tense-abstracted information.
2. tejhalria is a difficult word... The first element is te-, a negative prefix (like al- and aza- among others). The root is jhar 'find', and as you see it has the passive participle suffix -ia. Without the -l-, it therefore means 'unfound'. The infixed -l-, however, shows a 'converse' relationship. It appears on a number of adjectives and adjective-like words, particularly those referring to perception, like fit 'seeing'. The 'converse' of seeing an object ('X is a seer of Y') is the object showing itself ('Y shows itself to X'). Therefore tejhalria means 'not letting itself be found, not showing itself to be found'. The usual word for 'lost' in Yivokuchi is an essive, udaup 'in loss', which means something else and is unsuitable for this metaphorical sense.
3. olo- is a directional derivative which means 'along, accompanying in the same direction as'. -- sis is the Bokuchi sexagesimal equivalent to the proverbial 'thousand' (sixty squared, 3600). -- teb, here translated as 'mile', is a measure of distance equal to 2.126 km (about one mile and 1/3).
4. vekhia '(mountain) pass' is probably a modification from *pekhia '(a thing) cut in two, split', whose root also yields penghu 'cut, divide, split' (with a specifying element plus metatesis). -- beowak is transparently from beow-wak 'green-gem' (*wak is not attested alone; modern Yivokuchi wakre means 'jewel').
6. ucielitia 'horde' has the negative-connotation derivative uc-, the 'massive group' mark cie-, and li-tia 'person-fight' (fighting people = soldiers). Contrast with chabritia 'army, legion', which uses chab- to convey the idea of an ordered group. -- vebakam 'barbarian' has the precategorial element veb- 'destroy, ruin' and the agent mark -akam, suggesting the meaning of 'sacker, plunderer'. -- The tentative, general sense of 'probing at (some place)' is put forth using iw bRum instead of just rum.
9. vinkuarod 'garrison' has vin 'weapon', kuar 'staying' and the suffix -od 'place, building, facilities'. -- dibgab is dip 'line' + gab 'limit, boundary'.
10. yaol means 'land' and siu is 'center', though in this context it's understood in its other meaning, 'heart/soul/intimate feeling'. -- telragh is an abstract noun derived from ragh 'sad'.
11. bruw is no more than the essive of luw 'tower'.
12. alcesende has s- 'come' modified by the cessative derivative prefix ce-, so the whole word means 'they are not ceasing to come', or better 'they are unstopping'.