白頭波上白頭翁,Upon the white crested waves, a
white-crested wizened fellow,
家逐船移浦浦風。Home is where his boat brings him by
the soughing wind.
一尺鱸魚新釣得,And when a foot long perch newly baited,
一尺鱸魚新釣得,And when a foot long perch newly baited,
兒孫吹火荻花中。His offspring and theirs upon dried reeds blew; fire sparks grew; like miscanthus plumes flew.
浦 means bank. However, 浦浦 here
is an onomatopoeia of the wind sound. In
some versions, the first 浦 is replaced by 江
(river). Then the translation would be, Home is the bank where the wind brings his
boat to.
Do you know how difficult it is to burn the even dried feathery
blooms of the miscanthus? So I reject
the notion of the family trying to use these dried reed flowers as fuel.