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"Markhor"  wrote in message news:m80r98$3c1$1@speranza.aioe.org... 

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a). Gu Zhenkun's version

                KUNLUN
      to the tune of Charm
         of Maiden Niannu


Towering into the sky,

you,Kunlun,so vast and high,

Have kept all the spring splendeur
   of the human world in your eye!

Like three million jade dragons in flight,

You freeze the universe white.

In summer your melting snow
Making rivers overflow,

Alas,men may become turtles or fish in woe.

But,who ever tell us, for a time of thousand
   years long.

You, after all, have done what good or wrong?


Now let me say to Kunun:

Too high you soar into the air,

Too much snow you bear;

How,then,could I wield a heaven-high sword,

Cutting you in three to afford
One piece to Europe,

One piece to America,

And the final piece to Asia.

Ah,What a peaceful world we would see,

And alike warm and cold the earth would be!


***translator's notes

1.Kunlun: mountain ranges,situated in the west of China,with its highest
peak of 25348 feet above the sea level.In June 1935, The Red Army climbed
over Jiajin mountain and Min Mountain which are also subsidiary ranges of
Kunlun Mountain Ranges.

2.jade dragons: snow-covered mountain.

3.Asia: In Mao's first draft,it was "China",not "Asia".The correction was
made in the 1963 edition of Poems of Chairman Mao
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b). Yuan ShuiPai's version

              KUNLUN

--to the tune of Nien Nu Chiao

October 1935



Far above the earth, into the blue,

You, wild Kunlun, have seen

All that was fairest in the world of men.

Your three million white jade dragons in flight*

Freeze the sky with piercing cold.

In summer days your melting torrents

Flood the streams and rivers,

Turning men into fish and turtles.

Who has passed judgement on the good and ill

You have wrought these thousand autumns?



To Kunlun now I say,

Neither all your height

Nor all your snow is needed.

Could I but draw my sword o'ertopping heaven,

I'd cleave you in three:

One piece for Europe,

One for America,

One to keep in the East.

Peace would then reign over the world,

The same warmth and cold throughout the globe.


*AUTHOR'S NOTE:

    An ancient poet said: "While the three million white jade dragons were
fighting, the air was filled with their tattered scales flying." Thus he
described the flying snow. I have borrowed the image to describe the
snow-covered mountains. In summer, when one climbs to the top of Minshan,
one looks out on a host of mountains, all white, undulating as in a dance.
Among the local people a legend was current to the effect that all these
mountains were afire until the Monkey King borrowed a palm leaf fan and
quenched the flames, so that the mountains turned white.

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c). Xu YuanChong's version

            Mount Kunlun
Tune:"Charm of a maiden singer"
October 1935


Above the earth, across the blue,

Monster Kunlun in white,

You have feasted your eye on the world's fairest view.

Like three million white jade dragons in flight,

You have chilled the sky through.

When summer melts your snow
And rivers overflow,

For fish and turtles men would become food.

But who has ever judged if you
Have done for ages more ill than good?


Kunlun, I tell you now:

You need not be so high,

Nor need you so much snow.

Could I but lean against the sky
And draw my sword to cut you into three!

I would give to Europe your crest
And to America your breast
And leave in the Orient the rest.

In a peaceful world young and old
Might share alike your warmth and cold!

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d). Huang Long's version

                     KUNLUN
   --to the melody of Nian NU Jiao
           October 1935
Born from acros the skies,
Vast blue Kunlun,
On all the vernal charms in Man's world you've
   feasted your eye.
Up soar three million jade dragons in white array,
Stirring the entire heaven and chilling it to the
   marrow.
In summer days all thaw and melt away,
Rivers overflow,
To fishes and turtles people will fall a prey.
Your thouand autumns' service and disservice
Who has ever judged to do you justice?

Now I bid Kunlun:
You needn't tower so high,
Nor be crowned with so much snow.
If I could unsheathe the sword,leaning against
    the sky,
And cleave you into three pieces at one blow!
One I send to Europe,
One I present to America,
And one remains here for China.
By then will peace prevail in the world,
and the whole globe share this very warmth and
   cold.

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Interesting find from the archives.