Sweet Potatoes
原作 by Si Khiông-hong (施瓊芳)
Silken grapes are gifts from western soil,
Lychees come to us from Nanchou.
Sweet potatoes rumored from Luzon,
The earth’s rarities are wont to flow.
Imperial ship still in use,
A bundle of vines sneak on through.
Our fertile ground becomes refuge,
To sprouting stems in full view.
Jade green leaves fill gardens
Field hands call them foreign.
How will the farmers of taro,
Remain as these rations pour in?
The empire concerns itself with plowing affairs,
And the jewels found in barren soil.
Three years of good harvest to which we are heirs,
No almanac consulted during the toil.