Returning Home by Chance (Left Young, Returned Old)

回鄉偶書 (少小離家老大回) · Three Hundred Tang Poems

Original Chinese text from Chinese Wikisource (public domain). The translation is machine-made and may contain errors. · Original text ↗

English translation 中文原文

I left home young and return old,

My native accent unchanged, but my sideburns withered.

The children see me, yet do not know me;

Smiling, they ask, "Sir, where do you come from?"

回鄉偶書 (少小離家老大回)

少小離家老大回，鄉音無一作「未」，一作「難」改鬢一作「面」毛衰一作「摧」，

兒童相見不相識，笑一作「借」，一作「卻」問客從何處來。