“In the depth of the night not daring to let any one know
I secretly took a huge stone and dashed it against my arm.
For drawing the bow and waving the banner now wholly unfit;
I knew henceforward I should not be sent to fight in Yün-nan.
Bones broken and sinews wounded could not fail to hurt;
I was ready enough to bear pain, if only I got back home.
My arm—broken ever since; it was sixty years ago.
One limb, although destroyed,—whole body safe!
But even now on winter nights when the wind and rain blow
From evening on till day's dawn I cannot sleep for pain.
Not sleeping for pain
Is a small thing to bear,
Compared with the joy of being alive…”

—  Bai Juyi

"The Old Man with the Broken Arm" (a satire on militarism)
Arthur Waley's translations

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Bai Juyi 12
Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty 772–846

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