The Old Woman Recalls the Time around the Last Dynasty and Her Husband’s Departure

Before I knew the Japanese
And they would come down on horses
To chop off fingers for practice with their swords,
My husband courted me in the traditional manner
And while bashful sixteen, we were married.
I was loud of voice and sang to him far across the field
Where many apples grew and he went to smoke with the men.
He taught me first to smoke the long brown and gold pipe
While reached almost to the knee,
And once that was done he ieft me to wonder
Where he had gone.