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Guī Suī ShòuThough the Tortoise Lives Long 龟虽寿

Cao Cao (曹操, also known as Cao Mengde)｜Late Han / Wei｜four-character ancient-style poem

Cao Cao: "an old horse in the stable still dreams of a thousand miles".

Original Chinese text with pinyin

老骥伏枥
lǎo jì fú lì

志在千里
zhì zài qiān lǐ

盈缩之期
yíng suō zhī qī

不但在天
bù dàn zài tiān

养怡之福
yǎng yí zhī fú

可得永年
kě dé yǒng nián

Simplified characters; traditional title: 龜雖壽. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.

Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.

An old warhorse lying in its stable

still dreams of running a thousand miles.

The span of life, long or short,

is not up to heaven alone;

take care of your body and keep your heart content,

and you may live for many years.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

老骥伏枥 · lǎo jì fú lì — An old warhorse lying in its stable

志在千里 · zhì zài qiān lǐ — still dreams of running a thousand miles.

盈缩之期 · yíng suō zhī qī — The span of life, long or short,

不但在天 · bù dàn zài tiān — is not up to heaven alone;

养怡之福 · yǎng yí zhī fú — take care of your body and keep your heart content,

可得永年 · kě dé yǒng nián — and you may live for many years.

Cao Cao: "an old horse in the stable still dreams of a thousand miles". The scene stays with you.

Cao Cao: "an old horse in the stable still dreams of a thousand miles".

Cao Cao renewed yuefu song with spare, forceful verse.

Lifetime: 155–220. Other famous works: Viewing the Vast Sea (观沧海); Though the Tortoise Lives Long (龟虽寿).