Chapter 10 ruthless witch
ruthless witch
Knight, what troubles you
Wandering alone in frustration?
The reeds in the lake are withered,
And no birds sing!
O knight, what troubles you,
So haggard and sad?
The squirrel's nest is full of food,
The crops also went into the barn.
Your forehead is white like a lily
Fever dew hangs,
Your cheeks are like roses,
is withering fast. ——
i met on the lawn
A witch, as beautiful as a fairy
She is light, with long hair, and eyes
Wild light shines.
I wove her a wreath,
Fragrant girdles and bracelets,
She breathed softly,
As if he really loved me.
I took her on a steed.
She turned her face sideways to me.
I don't care about anything all day,
Just listen to her witch song.
She brought delicious grass roots,
Wild honey, nectar, and prickly pears,
She used a strange word,
Say she really loves me.
She took me to her cave,
It was crying again.laments again,
i kissed there four times
Her wild, wild eyes.
I fell asleep with her fascination,
Ah, I had a terrifying nightmare
i saw kings and princes
Also in the witch's cave.
And countless knights,
all pale as skeletons;
They cried: ruthless witch
I have taken you prisoner!
In the gloom, their puckered mouths
Open wide, foretelling disaster;
I woke up and saw myself
Lying on this icy hillside.
So I stay here,
wander alone in frustration;
Although the reeds in the lake are dry
Nor did the birds sing.
(Translated by Cha Liangzheng)
La Belle sans Merci: A Ballad
1
O what can ail thee, kings at arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has witherd from the lake,
And no birds sing.
2
O what can ail thee, kings at arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrels granular is full,
And the Harvests done.
3
I see a lily on thy brow
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And no thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withered too.
4
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful, and a fairys child;
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
5
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and Fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moon.
6
I set her on my pacing street,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A fairy song.
7
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in languages strange she said--
I love thee true.
8
She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sighed full score,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
9
And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dreamed--Ah! Woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dreamed
On the cold hills side.
10
I saw pale kings, and princes too,
Pale warriors, death pale were they all;
They cried--La belle dame sans merci
Hath thee in thrall!
11
I saw their starvd lips in the gloam
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here
On the cold hills side.
12
And this in why I sojourned here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge has witherd from the lake,
And no birds sing.