"What I See"

Author: Yuan Mei

The shepherd boy rides the ox, and his singing shakes the forest.

I wanted to catch the chirping cicada, but suddenly I stood up with my mouth shut.

Translation:

The shepherd boy rides on the back of the ox, and his loud singing echoes in the forest.

Suddenly wanting to catch the cicada singing in the tree, he immediately stopped singing and stood silently next to the tree.

"What You See" is a five-character quatrain written by Yuan Mei, a poet in the Qing Dynasty. This poem depicts an innocent and happy picture of a shepherd boy in the forest, expressing the author's love for the pastoral scenery.

Yuan Mei (March 25, 1716 - January 3, 1798), also known as Zicai and Jianzhai, in his later years was called Cangshan layman, Suiyuan master and Suiyuan old man. A native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang), his ancestral home is Cixi, Zhejiang. Representative poets, essayists, literary critics and gourmets during the Qianjia and Qing Dynasties.