Translation:

Even though it was the Dragon Boat Festival, there was no festive atmosphere in sight, and people's livelihoods were dismal. Wu Group light yellow color against the wind and rain, but also with rain gear to Lao She apartment to invite, where still because of home-loving and not to go to the appointment. Guests as concentric flesh and blood, even if poor, but also to sell articles to feed the family's money to buy wine to guests. I remember when I used to come to dinner, the fish was bigger and the dishes were more plentiful, but this Dragon Boat Festival was shabbier.

Originally:

Duanwu coincides with the wind and rain, the village children are still wearing the old clothes;

Invited to carry a straw raincoat, dare to love the grass for the mud deep.

This is the first time I've ever seen a man with the same heart as me, and I don't have the money to buy wine and sell articles.

This is the first time I've ever seen a man with the same heart as me, and I don't have the money to buy wine and sell articles.

Extended Information

Background

Lao She lived in Chongqing I*** for seven and a half years, living and working in four places. During his stay in Chongqing, Lao She interacted closely with Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Bing Xin and Wu Shuyao. During Lao She's interactions with Wu Shuyao, they left many interesting poems with each other. This poem was written at the Dragon Boat Festival in 1942, when Lao She was invited to Wu's house as a guest in Beibei, Chongqing.

The poem focuses on the deep friendship between Lao She and Wu, especially highlighting Wu's excellent character of treating people with sincerity, and at the same time, it also reveals the hardships and sufferings of the literati living in Chongqing in 1942, when the war of resistance against Japan was in the most difficult environment.

Lao She and Wu Shuyao were by no means the kind of friends who interacted with each other for the sake of food and drink, and their interactions were more about frankly discussing literary creation, encouraging each other as well as criticizing each other.

For example, Wu's long novel "Duckbill Flood" was published in March 1943, and Lao She wrote a review of "Duckbill Flood" in June of the same year. The review stated at the outset: "Mr. Xuanzhu hasn't written a novel for seven or eight years. The writing of Duckbill Flood not only makes me personally happy, but also the entire literary world is pleased. The name of the book is not good. "Duckbill" is too honest. "Waterlogged", who knows what it is!"

In the ensuing conversation, Lao She proposed to change the name of the novel from "Duckbill Flood" to "Torrent". Sure enough, when Duckbill Flood was reprinted by Shanghai Xingqun Publishing Company in 1946, Wu changed the title of the book to Mountain Torrent. This kind of straightforward, well-intentioned style of literary criticism is very difficult to see today, and it is really valuable.