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The magnolia 玉兰花
Translating from your Chinese. 催花雨 gave me the most headache in trying to come up with an appropriate poetic translation. This is the best I could do at the time.
After the few drops of the bloom-urging rain came, I thought of the long absence of the magnolias. Upon the soft soil I came trodding to them. In this early spring, how wrong I was to be mistaken these small green buds as leaves. [The next sentence is considered redundant in English because of the context of the previous sentence] Some petals had broken through the calyx, exposing their smilely faces tinged with coyness; like a shy beauty hiding behind a pipa. Like ink-drenched calligraphy brushes, they are mulling how to paint their beauty to the world. Why do magnolias bloom before its leaves appear? For a long time, deep in thought, I finally understood - too long in the solitude of the harsh winters, they wanted to display themselves to us ahead of their schedule.
Not understanding Chinese and in prose form,
After the accelerative promptness of the rain came urging the blooms of blossoming, I thought of the long and unseen magnolias. So in the early spring, I came to its side stepping trodding upon the loose soil. The early spring I have considered thought that the green buds were things were their leaves now but I was wrong. These green buds "leaves" are their flower were in fact the buds. Some petals have had broken through the calyxes showing their smilling smiling but shy faces with shy. They are like the brushes of sucking full dripping with ink; and they are brewing how to show ready to paint the sky with their colors loveliness. [This is how one would express in English]Why the magnolia blossoms come first before the it leaves sprout? I thought for a long time. , maybe Perhaps they were subjected to the loneliness of the long severe winter for a long time and show to us now bursting with impatient beauty, ahead of schedule.
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