游子吟 A Traveller’s Song

游子吟 A Traveller’s Song
孟郊 Meng Jiao (Tang)
cí mǔ shǒu zhōng xiàn
慈 母 手 中 线，
yóu zǐ shēn shàng yī
游 子 身 上 衣。
lín xíng mì mì féng
临 行 密 密 缝，
yì kǒng chí chí guī
意 恐 迟 迟 归。
shuí yán cùn cǎo xīn
谁 言 寸 草 心，
bào dé sān chūn huī
报 得 三 春 晖。

 
The thread in the hands of a fond-hearted mother
Makes clothes for the body of her wayward boy;
Carefully she sews and thoroughly she mends,
Dreading the delays that will keep him late from home.
But how much love has the inch-long grass
For three spring months of the light of the sun?

 
【译文】
儿子临走前，仁慈的母亲手里拿着针线，为出远门的儿子缝衣服。母亲一针一线缝得又密又牢，就怕孩子在外迟迟不能归来。我们做儿女的就像路边的小草，怎能报答春天所给与的光辉呢？