Ten Thousand Trees at Baling

[Intro]

[Verse 1]

I am a willow tree

Living beside the water, I covet neither wealth nor rank

Spring needs no blossoms to prove itself

One call from an oriole, and spring has a flavor

Peach and plum blossoms bloom in profusion

I feel no envy and join no gathering

[Pre-Chorus]

Peach and plum blossoms laugh at my plainness

I am plain with every right to be, without shame

[Chorus]

自与莺为地，不教花作媒 — It makes a place for orioles of its own accord, asking no flowers to serve as matchmakers

Breaking in the fine rain, flying in the gentle breeze

I would rather brush an ordinary roadside screen than touch the splendor of Bronze Sparrow Terrace

Baling’s countless trees, stand in ranks to see you off

Break off a branch for the departing traveler, bid them return soon

The wind trims a thousand times, brows and eyes drooping low

[Verse 2]

How slender can I grow

A single spring rain weighs me down until I weep

How light I am when I grow light

When the wind comes, I surrender myself to its blowing

The wind is the finest tailor

Tailoring for me a whole garment，of brows that trail to the water

[Pre-Chorus]

I see more and more people off

The branches hang so low they almost reach the wine cup

[Chorus]

自与莺为地，不教花作媒 — It makes a place for orioles of its own accord, asking no flowers to serve as matchmakers

Breaking in the fine rain, flying in the gentle breeze

I would rather brush an ordinary roadside screen than touch the splendor of Bronze Sparrow Terrace

Baling’s countless trees, stand in ranks to see you off

Break off a branch for the departing traveler, bid them return soon

The wind trims a thousand times, brows and eyes drooping low

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]

The wealthy use brocade to make their screens

I brush gently against it，as if to offer him comfort

A place as high as Bronze Sparrow Terrace

I have no desire to go there and shade its beauty

The wind up high is cold and harsh

Keeping watch beside the quilts warming in the sun, beneath the low wall

[Bridge]

The road through Baling has been traveled for a thousand years

A thousand years of hoofbeats have all headed toward sorrow

Break off a willow sprig for the traveler bound far away

Willow strands entwine the stirrup，entwine the heart

Those seeing you off stand in a row

Shadows beneath the sun, stretch into gray

Dusk has come, everyone seeing someone off must go home

Only the willow remains, standing where it was without regret

[Verse 4]

They have gone home

The road is empty, the willow shade spreads deep and dark

I take the care and longing I have yet to send

Entrust it to the Ba River's waters along the current

When next year's spring breeze arrives

I will turn green again, without a trace of weariness

[Final Chorus]

自与莺为地，不教花作媒 — It makes a place for orioles of its own accord, asking no flowers to serve as matchmakers

Breaking in the fine rain, flying in the gentle breeze

I would rather brush an ordinary roadside screen than touch the splendor of Bronze Sparrow Terrace

Baling’s countless trees, stand in ranks to see you off

Break off a branch for the departing traveler, bid them return soon

The wind trims a thousand times, brows and eyes drooping low

[Outro]

Tomorrow the sun will rise as always

The willows of Baling stay awake as ever