歸園田居·其一
Returning to Live in the Country (I)
Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (c. 365–427)
Six Dynasties · c. 406

Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-001011 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/001011
Rights: Jin dynasty poem; the author died in 427. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
Source: Wikisource, https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/歸園田居 (retrieved 2026-10-11)
English translation: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0
Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/tao-yuanming-returning-to-the-fields-1

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少無適俗韻，性本愛丘山。
誤落塵網中，一去三十年。
羈鳥戀舊林，池魚思故淵。
開荒南野際，守拙歸園田。
方宅十餘畝，草屋八九間，
榆柳蔭後簷，桃李羅堂前。
曖曖遠人村，依依墟里煙；
狗吠深巷中，雞鳴桑樹巔。
戶庭無塵雜，虛室有餘閑。
久在樊籠裏，復得返自然。

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少无适俗韵，性本爱丘山。
误落尘网中，一去三十年。
羁鸟恋旧林，池鱼思故渊。
开荒南野际，守拙归园田。
方宅十余亩，草屋八九间，
榆柳荫后檐，桃李罗堂前。
暧暧远人村，依依墟里烟；
狗吠深巷中，鸡鸣桑树巅。
户庭无尘杂，虚室有余闲。
久在樊笼里，复得返自然。

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English translation by Claude (an AI)

When young I had no ear for the common tune;
my nature loved the hills and mountains.
By mistake I fell into the dusty net
and was gone for thirty years.
The caged bird longs for its old woods,
the pond fish thinks of its old deep pool.
I have cleared waste ground at the edge of the southern wilds;
keeping to my simple ways, I have come back to garden and field.
Ten mu or so of land around the house,
a thatched cottage of eight or nine rooms.
Elms and willows shade the back eaves,
peach and plum stand in rows before the hall.
Dim, dim, the distant village;
soft, soft, the smoke above the houses.
A dog barks deep in the lane,
a cock crows at the top of a mulberry tree.
No dust or clutter at my gate and yard;
in the empty rooms there is leisure to spare.
Long I was kept inside a cage,
and now I have come back to what is natural.