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Tu Fu’s friends have hired a boat to take them out on the water but have now returned to the shore, soaked by the sudden downpour. The sitting mats were made of woven grass, and the awning was also woven, but probably from thin strips of bamboo or rattan. The women of the ancient states of Yueh in Southeast China and Yen in the Northeast were known for their beauty and also for their voices, and they were sought after as entertainers. The reservoir was about ten kilometers south of Ch’ang-an but only a few kilometers west of Tu Fu’s home on the Tungling Plateau. At least he didn’t have to travel as far as his rich young friends and their companions.

Encountering Rain at Changpa Reservoir One Evening While Enjoying a Cool Breeze with Rich Young Men and Their Singsong Girls—II

TU FU

Rain drenches the mats

wind beats against the prow

girls from Yueh wring out their red skirts

girls from Yen lament their mascara

even with the boat tied to a willow

the awning still lifts in the spray

the road home looks desolate now

on a fall day in May at the lake