Lu You's cat poems
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This is a great Twitter thread of translations of Chinese poet Lu You’s cat poems.
decided to do a separate thread for this so here we go: how Song dynasty poet Lu You poem-liveblogged his descent from cat owner to cat slave 800 years ago
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020
The year is 1183. Down On His Luck scholar-official Lu You gets a cat because rats keep munching on his books. 1/? pic.twitter.com/MdMgVdiY5V
the effects are GREAT!! Lu You is delighted!!
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020
THIS IS LITERALLY THE TITLE HE GAVE THE POEM I AM NOT MAKING SHIT UP
(also feel free to correct my translations because my classical chinese is not that good LOOOL) 2/? pic.twitter.com/qoP1NRcT6S
several years later, Lu You gets ANOTHER CAT!! he calls it Snowy!! (probably had white fur then)
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020
he loves it so much he suspects it was a child of his reincarnated from a past life 3/? pic.twitter.com/hsadHBwDuP
and then cat #3, Pink-Nose!!!
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020
it seems that Lu You's cats have fish to eat now, but Pink-Nose seems to be slacking on its mice-eradicating duties...? 4/? pic.twitter.com/ElyqYCAaes
the power dynamics in the Lu household now seem to be experiencing some shifts. who is the master and who is the servant now?? 5/? pic.twitter.com/gmhgMmsGfN
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020
it finally hits Lu You, what has happened. he has made a terrible mistake, spoiling his cats so much. they're not working anymore. there is no going back. this is his life now. a life full of rats and birds his cats refuse to kill. 6/? pic.twitter.com/JNbE1R3p9H
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020
does this mean Lu You hates his cats now? naaah, son, he has accepted his fate and cuddles with them on stormy nights like the full-fledged cat slave he is 7/?https://t.co/G6jVNEFVAm
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020
And don’t miss the follow-up:
OH and I gotta add that in modern China, cat owners really are called Cat Slaves ็ซๅฅด or Poop Shoveling Officers ้ฒๅฑๅฎ (which implies that the cat is the emperor) ๐ฅด
— ๐iran Jay Zhao ๐ (@XiranJayZhao) August 28, 2020