MULAN

ANONYMOUS

“Poem of Mulan”

A sigh, a sigh, and then again a sigh—
Mulan was sitting at the door and weaving.
One did not hear the sound of loom and shuttle,
One only heard her heave these heavy sighs.

When she was asked the object of her love,
When she was asked who occupied her thoughts,
She did not have a man she was in love with,
There was no boy who occupied her thoughts.

“Last night I saw the summons from the army,
The Khan is mobilizing all his troops.
The list of summoned men comes in twelve copies:
Every copy lists my father’s name!

My father has, alas, no grown-up son,
And I, Mulan, I have no adult brother.
I want to buy a saddle and a horse,
To take my father’s place and join the army.”

The eastern market: there she bought a horse;
The western market: there she bought a saddle.
The southern market: there she bought a bridle;
The northern market: there she bought a whip.

At dawn she said good-bye to her dear parents,
At night she rested by the Yellow River.
She did not hear her parents’ voices, calling for their daughter,
She only heard the Yellow River’s flowing water, always splashing, splashing.

At dawn she left the Yellow River’s bank;
At night she rested on Black Mountain’s top.
She did not hear her parents’ voices, calling for their daughter,
She only heard the whinnying of Crimson Mountain’s Hunnish¹ horsemen.

Myriads of miles: she joined the thick of battle,
Crossing the mountain passes as if flying.
Winds from the north transmitted metal rattles,²
A freezing light shone on her iron armor.
A hundred battles and the brass were dead;
After ten years the bravest men returned.

When they returned, they met the Son of Heaven,
The Son of Heaven seated on his throne.³
Their honorary rank went up twelve steps,
And their rewards were counted in the millions.

The Khan asked Mulan what he might desire—
“I, Mulan, do not care for an appointment here at court.⁴
Give me your racer good for a thousand miles,⁵
To take me back again to my old hometown.”

Hearing their daughter had arrived, her parents
Went out the city, welcoming her back home.
Hearing her elder sister had arrived, her sister
Put on her bright red outfit at the door.
Hearing his elder sister had arrived, her brother
Sharpened his knife that brightly flashed in front of pigs and sheep.

“Open the gate to my pavilion on the east,
Let me sit down in my old western room.
I will take off the dress I wore in battle;
I will put on the skirt I used to wear.”

Close to the window she did up her hair;
Facing the mirror she applied makeup.
She went outside and saw her army buddies—

Her army buddies were all flabbergasted:

“We marched together for these twelve long years
And absolutely had no clue that Mulan was a girl!”

“The male hare wildly kicks its feet;
The female hare has shifty eyes,
But when a pair of hares runs side by side,
Who can distinguish whether I in fact am male or female?”

Translated by Wilt L. Idema

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¹ The Chinese term hu, which we here translate as “Hunnish,” generally refers to the nomadic populations on China’s traditional nothern border (in modern Inner Mongolia).

² The Chinese commentators here explain the “rattle” as a small iron three-legged pot, which was used for cooking food at daytime and for beating out the watches during nighttime.

³ The Son of Heaven (the emperor/khan) is said in the original to be seated in the Hall of Light, a ceremonial structure described in ancient books.

⁴ More precisely, an appointment as Secretarial Court Gentleman.

⁵ That is, a horse (or, according to some editions, a camel) that can run a thousand Chinese miles in a single day (the Chinese mile is roughly one third of an English mile).