Mulan

English Translation of the Original Chinese Ballad of Mulan

Ching ching and ching ching, Mulan weaves in the house yet there is no weaving machine’s sound, only Mulan’s sigh. “What is troubling you?” Mulan says, “Nothing, just...

“Last night, I read Khan’s official conscript. My old hobbled father’s name is on the 12 scrolls that list the names of soldiers to be recruited.

“My father doesn’t have any sons old enough and I don’t have any older brothers, so I have decided to replace my father to answer the call. I can get a horse from the east market, a saddle from the west market, a headstall and reins from the south market, and a whip from the north market.

“I said farewell to my parents in the morning and by the evening I was sleeping by the Yellow River, which is miles away from home.

“I can’t hear how heartbroken my family is and how much they are crying over my leaving; all I can hear is water continually flowing in the river in front of me.

“I set off from the Yellow River the other morning and kept going toward the deep north until, by the evening, I had reached the gloomy Black Mountain.

“I can’t hear how heartbroken my family is and how much they are crying over my leaving; all I can hear is the northern Xiongnu invaders’ horses neighing fiercely.

“I ride for thousands of miles and pass through numerous barriers and blocks to fight at battlefields. At night, I’m accompanied by cold midwinter howls and blue moonlight casting an icy glow on my heavy armor. Years of war and hundreds of battles have cost many generals’ lives and leave the bravest warriors to return.

“We present ourselves to Khan in his splendid court. His majesty is rewarding us with titles, medals, and gifts. When Khan asks me, ‘Mulan, what’s your wish?’, I reply, ‘I wish for no position in the court but a fast horse to take me home’.

“My parents have come out to the village to greet me, my sisters are putting on their best makeup to see me, while my youngest brother is preparing to butcher a pig for my return feast. I open my room’s window and sit on my bed, remove my battle armor and change into my normal clothes, create a feminine hairstyle, and put on some makeup.

“Walking out to meet my war fellows, they are all shocked by the fact that ‘Mulan is a girl’, which they had failed to find out during 12 years of living in the army.”

Only when you hold a rabbit in the air by its ears can you tell a male rabbit, which keeps trying to jump while a female rabbit’s eyes go dim and sleepy. If they run together on land, hardly anybody can tell the difference between the male and the female.