OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland/Chapter 9

FORES. CALDER. FORT GEORGE.
We went forwards the same day to Fores, the town to which Macbeth was travelling, when he met the weird sisters in his way. This to an Englishman is classic ground. Our imaginations were heated, and our thoughts recalled to their old amusements.
We had now a prelude to the Highlands. We began to leave fertility and culture behind us, and saw for a great length of road nothing but heath; yet at Fochabars, a seat belonging to the duke of Gordon, there is an orchard, which in ​Scotland I had never seen before, with some timber trees, and a plantation of oaks.
At Fores we found good accommodation, but nothing worthy of particular remark, and next morning entered upon the road, on which Macbeth heard the fatal prediction; but we travelled on not interrupted by promises of kingdoms, and came to Nairn, a royal burgh, which, if once it flourished, is now in a state of miserable decay; but I know not whether its chief annual magistrate has not still the title of Lord Provost.
At Nairn we may fix the verge of the Highlands; for here I first saw peat fires, and first heard the Erse language. We had no motive to stay longer than to breakfast, and went forward to the house of Mr. Macaulay, the minister who published an account of St. Kilda, and by his direction visited Calder Castle, from which ​Macbeth drew his second title. It has been formerly a place of strength. The drawbridge is still to be seen, but the moat is now dry. The tower is very ancient: Its walls are of great thickness, arched on the top with stone, and surrounded with battlements. The rest of the house is later, though far from modern.
We were favoured by a gentleman, who lives in the castle, with a letter to one of the officers at Fort George, which being the most regular fortification in the island, well deserves the notice of a traveller, who has never travelled before. We went thither next day, found a very kind reception, were led round the works by a gentleman, who explained the use of every part, and entertained by Sir Eyre Coote, the governor, with such elegance of conversation as left us no attention to the delicacies of his table.
​Of Fort George I shall not attempt to give any account. I cannot delineate it scientifically, and a loose and popular description is of use only when the imagination is to be amused. There was every where an appearance of the utmost neatness and regularity. But my suffrage is of little value, because this and Fort Augustus are the only garrisons that I ever saw.
We did not regret the time spent at the fort, though in consequence of our delay we came somewhat late to Inverness, the town which may properly be called the capital of the Highlands. Hither the inhabitants of the inland parts come to be supplied with what they cannot make for themselves: Hither the young nymphs of the mountains and valleys are sent for education, and as far as my observation has reached, are not sent in vain.
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# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Man who Dreamed of Fairies

​THE MAN WHO DREAMED OF FAIRIES
This poem is an attack on the Emperor Hsien-tsung, A. D. 806–820, who "was devoted to magic." A Taoist wizard told him that herbs of longevity grew near the city of T'ai-chou. The Emperor at once appointed him prefect of the place, "pour lui permettre d'herboriser plus à son aise" [Wieger, Textes III, p. 1723]. When the censors protested, the Emperor replied: "The ruin of a single district would be a small price to pay, if it could procure longevity for the Lord of Men."
There was once a man who dreamt he went to Heaven:
His dream-body soared aloft through space. He rode on the back of a white-plumed crane,
And was led on his flight by two crimson banners. Whirring of wings and flapping of coat tails! Jade bells suddenly all a-tinkle! Half way to Heaven, he looked down beneath him,
Down on the dark turmoil of the World. Gradually he lost the place of his native town;
Mountains and water — nothing else distinct. The Eastern Ocean — a single strip of white:
The Hills of China, — five specks of green. Gliding past him a host of fairies swept
In long procession to the Palace of the Jade City. How should he guess that the children of Tzü-mēn
Bow to the throne like courtiers of earthly kings?
They take him to the presence of the Mighty Jade Emperor:
He bows his head and proffers loyal homage. The Emperor says: "We see you have fairy talents:
Be of good heart and do not slight yourself. We shall send to fetch you in fifteen years
And give you a place in the Courtyard of Immortality." Twice bowing, he acknowledged the gracious words:
Then woke from sleep, full of wonder and joy. He hid his secret and dared not tell it abroad:
But vowed a vow he would live in a cave of rock. From love and affection he severed kith and kin:
From his eating and drinking he omitted savoury and spice. His morning meal was a dish of coral-dust:
At night he sipped an essence of dewy mists. In the empty mountains he lived for thirty years
Daily watching for the Heavenly Coach to come. The time of appointment was already long past. But of wings and coach-bells — still no sound. His teeth and hair daily withered and decayed:
His ears and eyes gradually lost their keenness. One morning he suffered the Common Change
And his body was one with the dust and dirt of the hill. Gods and fairies! If indeed such things there be,
Their ways are beyond the striving of mortal men. If you have not on your skull the Golden Bump's protrusion,
If your name is absent from the rolls of the Red Terrace,
In vain you learn the "Method of Avoiding Food":
For naught you study the "Book of Alchemic Lore."
Though you sweat and toil, what shall your trouble bring?
You will only shorten the five-score years of your span. Sad, alas, the man who dreamt of Fairies! For a single dream spoiled his whole life.
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Method of Translation

THE METHOD OF TRANSLATION
It is commonly asserted that poetry, when literally translated, ceases to be poetry. This is often true, and I have for that reason not attempted to translate many poems which in the original have pleased me quite as much as those I have selected. But I present the ones I have chosen in the belief that they still retain the essential characteristics of poetry.
I have aimed at literal translation, not paraphrase. It may be perfectly legitimate for a poet to borrow foreign themes or material, but this should not be called translation.
Above all, considering imagery to be the soul of poetry, I have avoided either adding images of my own or suppressing those of the original.
Any literal translation of Chinese poetry is bound to be to some extent rhythmical, for the rhythm of the original obtrudes itself. Translating literally, without thinking about the metre of the version, one finds that about two lines out of three have a very definite swing similar to that of the Chinese lines. The remaining lines are just too short or too long, a circumstance very irritating to the reader, whose ear expects the rhythm to continue. I have therefore tried to produce regular rhythmic effects similar to those of the original. Each character in the Chinese is represented by a stress in the English; but between the stresses unstressed syllables are of course interposed. In a few instances where the English insisted on being shorter ​than the Chinese, I have preferred to vary the metre of my version, rather than pad out the line with unnecessary verbiage.
I have not used rhyme because it is impossible to produce in English rhyme-effects at all similar to those of the original, where the same rhyme sometimes run through a whole poem. Also, because the restrictions of rhyme necessarily injure either the vigour of one's language or the literalness of one's version. I do not, at any rate, know of any example to the contrary. What is generally known as "blank verse" is the worst medium for translating Chinese poetry, because the essence of blank verse is that it varies the position of its pauses, whereas in Chinese the stop always comes at the end of the couplet.
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Old Harp

THE OLD HARP
Of cord and cassia-wood is the harp compounded:
Within it lie ancient melodies. Ancient melodies — weak and savourless, Not appealing to present men's taste. Light and colour are faded from the jade stops:
Dust has covered the rose-red strings. Decay and ruin came to it long ago,
But the sound that is left is still cold and clear. I do not refuse to play it, if you want me to:
But even if I play, people will not listen.
······· How did it come to be neglected so?
Because of the Ch'iang flute and the Ch'in flageolet.
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Other Side of the Valley

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE VALLEY
I am a prisoner in the hands of the enemy, Enduring the shame of captivity.
My bones stick out and my strength is gone
Through not getting enough to eat.
My brother is a Mandarin
And his horses are fed on maize.
Why can't he spare a little money
To send and ransom me?
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Little Lady of Ch'ing-hsi

THE LITTLE LADY OF CH'ING-HSI
[A CHILDREN'S SONG]
Her door opened on the white water
Close by the side of the timber bridge:
That's where the little lady lived
All alone without a lover.
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Old Man with the Broken Arm

[A Satire on Militarism]
At Hsin-fēng an old man — four-score and eight;
The hair on his head and the hair of his eyebrows — white as the new snow. Leaning on the shoulders of his great-grandchildren, he walks in front of the Inn;
With his left arm he leans on their shoulders; his right arm is broken. I asked the old man how many years had passed since he broke his arm;
I also asked the cause of the injury, how and why it happened? The old man said he was born and reared in the District of Hsin-fēng;
At the time of his birth — a wise reign; no wars or discords. "Often I listened in the Pear-Tree Garden to the sound of flute and song;
Naught I knew of banner and lance; nothing of arrow or bow. Then came the wars of T'ien-pao and the great levy of men;
Of three men in each house,— one man was taken. And those to whom the lot fell, where were they taken to? Five months' journey, a thousand miles — away to Yün-nan. We heard it said that in Yün-nan there flows the Lu River;
As the flowers fall from the pepper-trees, poisonous vapours rise. When the great army waded across, the water seethed like a cauldron;
When barely ten had entered the water, two or three were dead. To the north of my village, to the south of my village the sound of weeping and wailing,
Children parting from fathers and mothers; husbands parting from wives. Everyone says that in expeditions against the Min tribes
Of a million men who are sent out, not one returns. I, that am old, was then twenty-four;
My name and fore-name were written down in the rolls of the Board of War. 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 when all the rest are dead. For otherwise, years ago, at the ford of Lu River
My body would have died and my soul hovered by the bones that no one gathered. A ghost, I'd have wandered in Yün-nan, always looking for home. Over the graves of ten thousand soldiers, mournfully hovering." So the old man spoke,
And I bid you listen to his words
Have you not heard
That the Prime Minister of K'ai-yüan, Sung K'ai-fu,
Did not reward frontier exploits, lest a spirit of aggression should prevail? And have you not heard
That the Prime Minster of T'ien-Pao, Yang Kuo-chung Desiring to win imperial favour, started a frontier war? But long before he could win the war, people had lost their temper;
Ask the man with the broken arm in the village of Hsin-fēng!
* ↑ A. D. 742–755.
* ↑ 713–742.
* ↑ Cousin of the notorious mistress of Ming-huang, Yang Kuei-fei.
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Orphan

THE ORPHAN
Anon. [first century B. C.]
To be an orphan, To be fated to be an orphan,
How bitter is this lot! When my father and mother were alive
I used to ride in a carriage
With four fine horses.
But when they both died, My brother and sister-in-law
Sent me out to be a merchant. In the south I travelled to the "Nine Rivers" And in the east as far as Ch'i and Lu. At the end of the year when I came home
I dared not tell them what I had suffered —
Of the lice and vemin in my head,
Of the dust in my face and eyes. My brother told me to get ready the dinner,
My sister-in-law told me to see after the horses. I was always going up into the hall And running down again to the parlour. My tears fell like rain.
In the morning they sent me to draw water,
I didn't get back till night-fall.
My hands were all sore
And I had no shoes.
I walked the cold earth
Treading on thorns and brambles.
As I stopped to pull out the thorns,
How bitter my heart was!
My tears fell and fell
And I went on sobbing and sobbing.
In winter I have no great-coat;
Nor in summer, thin clothes.
It is no pleasure to be alive.
I had rather quickly leave the earth
And go beneath the Yellow Springs. The April winds blow
And the grass is growing green.
In the third month — silkworms and mulberries, In the sixth month — the melon-harvest. I went out with the melon-cart
And just as I was coming home
The melon-cart turned over.
The people who came to help me were few,
But the people who ate the melons were many, All they left me was the stalks — To take home as fast as I could.
My brother and sister-in-law were harsh,
They asked me all sorts of awful questions.
Why does everyone in the village hate me?
I want to write a letter and send it
To my mother and father under the earth, And tell them I can't go on any longer
Living with my brother and sister-in-law.
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Pedlar of Spells

THE PEDLAR OF SPELLS
By Lu Yu [A. D. 1125–1209]
An old man selling charms in a cranny of the town wall. He writes out spells to bless the silkworms and spells to protect the corn. With the money he gets each day he only buys wine. But he does not worry when his legs get wobbly, For he has a boy to lean on.
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Man-Wind and the Woman-Wind

​THE MAN-WIND AND THE WOMAN-WIND
A "fu," or prose-poem, by Sung Yü [fourth century B. C.], nephew of Ch'ü Yuan.
Hsiang, king of Ch'u, was feasting in the Orchid-tower Palace, with Sung Yü and Ching Ch'ai to wait upon him. A gust of wind blew in and the king bared his breast to meet it, saying: "How pleasant a thing is this wind which I share with the common people." Sung Yü answered: "This is the Great King's wind. The common people cannot share it." The king said: "Wind is a spirit of Heaven and Earth. It comes wide spread and does not choose between noble and base or between high and low. How can you say 'This is the king's wind'?" Sung answered: "I have heard it taught that in the crooked lemon-tree birds make their nests and to empty spaces winds fly. But the wind-spirit that comes to different things is not the same." The king said: "Where is the wind born?" and Sung answered: "The wind is born in the ground. It rises in the extremities of the green p'ing-flower. It pours into the river-valleys and rages at the mouth of the pass. It follows the rolling flanks of Mount T'ai and dances beneath the pine-trees and cypresses. In gusty bouts it whirls. It rushes in fiery anger. It rumbles low with a noise like thunder, tearing down rocks and trees, smiting forests and grasses.
​"But at last abating, it spreads abroad, seeks empty places and crosses the threshold of rooms. And so growing gentler and clearer, it changes and is dispersed and dies.
"It is this cool clear Man-Wind that, freeing itself, falls and rises till it climbs the high walls of the Castle and enters the gardens of the Inner Palace. It bends the flowers and leaves with its breath. It wanders among the osmanthus and pepper-trees. It lingers over the fretted face of the pond, to steal the soul of the hibiscus. It touches the willow leaves and scatters the fragrant herbs. Then it pauses in the courtyard and turning to the North goes up to the Jade Hall, shakes the hanging curtains and lightly passes into the inner room.
"And so it becomes the Great King's wind.
"Now such a wind is fresh and sweet to breathe and its gentle murmuring cures the diseases of men, blows away the stupor of wine, sharpens sight and hearing and refreshes the body. This is what is called the Great King's wind."
The king said: "You have well described it. Now tell me of the common people's wind." Sung said: "The common people's wind rises from narrow lanes and streets, carrying clouds of dust. Rushing to empty spaces it attacks the gateway, scatters the dust-heap, sends the cinders flying, pokes among foul and rotting things, till at last it enters the tiled windows and reaches the rooms of the cottage. Now this wind is heavy and turgid, oppressing man's heart It brings fever to his body, ulcers to his lips and dimness to his eyes. It shakes him with coughing; it kills him before his time.
"Such is the Woman-wind of the common people."
# A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The People of Tao-chou

In the land of Tao-chou
Many of the people are dwarfs;
The tallest of them never grow to more than three feet. They were sold in the market as dwarf slaves and yearly sent to Court;
Described as "an offering of natural products from the land of Tao-chou." A strange "offering of natural products"; I never heard of one yet
That parted men from those they loved, never to meet again! Old men — weeping for their grandsons; mothers for their children! One day — Yang Ch'ēng came to govern the land;
He refused to send up dwarf slaves in spite of incessant mandates. He replied to the Emperor "Your servant finds in the Six Canonical Books
'In offering products, one must offer what is there, and not what isn't there' On the waters and lands of Tao-chou, among all the things that live
I only find dwarfish people; no dwarfish slaves"
The Emperor's heart was deeply moved and he sealed and sent a scroll
"The yearly tribute of dwarfish slaves is henceforth annulled."
The people of Tao-chou,
Old ones and young ones, how great their joy! Father with son and brother with brother henceforward kept together;
From that day for ever more they lived as free men. The people of Tao-chou
Still enjoy this gift. And even now when they speak of the Governor
Tears start to their eyes. And lest their children and their children's children should forget the Governor's name,
When boys are born the syllable "Yang" is often used in their forename.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Cudlip, Frederick Augustus

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​CUDLIP. (Lieutenant, 1840.)
Frederick Augustus Cudlip was born in April, 1809.
This officer entered the Navy 14 Feb. 1824; passed his examination in 1830; obtained his commission 3 July, 1840; and then joined the Fairy surveying vessel, Capt. Wm. Hewett. He has been serving, since 22 March, 1841, in the Shearwater and Blazer, steam and surveying vessels, both commanded by Capt. John Washington, on the Home station. Agents – Messrs. Stilwell.
# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Crouch, Edward

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​CROUCH. (Commander, 1843. f-p., 14; h-p., 3.)
Edward Crouch, born 3 Dec. 1816, is son of Commander E. T. Crouch, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 12 June, 1830, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Prince Regent 120, Capt. Jas. Whitley Deans Dundas, bearing the flag at the Nore of Sir John Poo Beresford. While in the performance of his duty on board that ship, he had the misfortune, on 4 Nov. following, severely to lacerate both hands, and lose the top of five fingers. Removing, in April, 1831, to the Pearl 20, Capts. Wm. Broughton and Robt. Gordon, he visited the West Indies; and he afterwards served, from 4 Jan. 1833, until wrecked on the coast of Chili, 19 May, 1835, as Midshipman, in the Spartiate 76, flag-ship of Sir Michael Seymour, Commander-in-Chief in South America, and Challenger 28, Capt. Michael Seymour. On his ultimate return to England after suffering many privations, Mr. Crouch, in Dec. of the latter year, joined the Excellent, Capt. Thos. Hastings, gunnery-ship at Portsmouth, where he passed his examination in Oct. 1836. He returned, in April, 1837, to South America, as Gunnery Mate of the Samarang 28, Capts. Wm. Broughton and Jas. Scott; and, on eventually proceeding to China, removed, in a similar capacity, to the Wellesley 72, Commodore Sir Jas. John Gordon Bremer, 22 Dec. 1840. Taking part in the hostilities that followed, he served on board the Hon.E.I.Co.’s steamer Nemesis at the destruction of 10 war-junks, near Chuenpee, 7 Jan. 1841; after which he mainly contributed by the perfection of his fire to the rapid success which, between 13 and 15 March following, attended an expedition up the inner passage from Macao to Whampoa, where were destroyed five forts, one battery, two military stations, and nine man-of-war junks, containing in the whole 115 guns and 8 gingalls. Mr. Crouch, who obtained his first commission 8 June in the same year, was next employed on shore at the reduction of Chinghae 10 Oct. ensuing. Becoming attached, 22 Jan. 1842, to the Blonde 42, Capt. Thos. Bourchier, he further commanded two boats in an attack on Chin-Kiang-Foo, 21 July, 1842; where, in an attempt to land the ​artillery guns, he was severely wounded (in three places), as were 16 others, out of a crew of 24; and on that occasion he displayed great presence of mind in rescuing his party from the peril to which they had thus hecome exposed. He had previously served on shore at the capture of Chapoo. The Blonde being paid off in March, 1843; Lieut. Crouch, on 31 of that month, joined the Camperdown 104, bearing the flag of Sir Edw. Brace at Sheerness, in which ship he continued until promoted to his present rank, 25 Oct. following. He has been in successive command, since 13 May, 1846, of the Gorgon and Devastation steam-vessels, on the S.E. coast of America and coast of Africa.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1841, pp. 1222, 1509.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1842, p. 396.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1842, pp. 3403-4.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1842, p. 3694.