yóu游zǐ子yín吟

Under the title the poet noted: "written when I brought my mother to Li." Meng Jiao failed the imperial exam many times and only passed at forty-six. Around fifty he became a county sheriff in Liyang, in today's Jiangsu, a small post in charge of keeping order. Once his life was a little steadier, he brought his mother to live with him there. He wrote this poem remembering how she sewed his clothes when he first left home.

诗题下原有作者自注“迎母溧上作”。孟郊年轻时考试多次落榜，四十六岁才考中进士，五十岁左右才做了溧阳县尉，一个管治安的小官。溧阳在今天的江苏。生活稍稍安定后，他把母亲接到溧阳一起住，写下了这首诗，回忆当年离家时母亲为他缝衣服的情景。

Meng Jiao (751–814), courtesy name Dongye, was a Tang poet. He was poor all his life, and got only a small official post, very late. He worked hard over every word, and people paired him with Jia Dao as "cold Meng and thin Jia". Most of his poems are about hardship and sorrow, but this plain, warm poem is his most famous.

孟郊（751—814），字东野，唐代诗人。他一生贫困，做官很晚，官也很小。他写诗喜欢苦苦推敲字句，和贾岛并称“郊寒岛瘦”。他的诗大多写自己的穷苦和悲伤，但这首《游子吟》写得朴素温暖，是他最有名的作品。

This poem has only thirty characters, yet everyone can feel the mother's love in it. The first four lines are like a close-up shot: by the lamp, a mother holds needle and thread, sewing clothes for her son who is about to leave. She sews extra close, because she fears he will be gone a long time and the clothes must last. The poet does not tell us what she says. He shows only her hands and her worry, and the love hides in every stitch. The last two lines use a picture: the child is a tiny blade of grass, and the mother's love is spring sunshine. How could the little grass ever repay the sun? These two lines became the best-known words in Chinese for a child's gratitude to a parent.

这首诗只有三十个字，却把母爱写得让每个人都能感受到。前四句像一个特写镜头：灯下，母亲手里拿着针线，为要出门的孩子缝衣服。她缝得特别密，因为心里怕孩子很久才回来，衣服要穿得久一点。诗人没有写母亲说了什么话，只写她手上的动作和心里的担心，爱就藏在一针一线里。最后两句用了一个比喻：孩子像一棵小草，母亲的爱像春天的阳光。小草怎么报答得了阳光呢？这两句后来成了表达孝心最常用的话。