Wang Feng Yi on Manual Labour and Excessive Greed

王善人说过：
wang shan ren shuo guo:
Wang, the Kind-Hearted Man, said:

我十七岁那年，
wo shi qi sui na nian,
The year I was seventeen,

在家学作活（种田），
zai jia xue zuo huo (zhong tian),
I studied manual labour (tilling the fields) at home,

有一天跟我爹铲地（锄田），
you yi tian gen wo die chan di (chu tian),
one day I shovelled the ground [hoeing the fields] with my father,

我问我爹说：
wo wen wo die shuo:
I asked my father:

人们辛辛苦苦地过家，
ren men ku ku xin xin de guo jia,
People painstakingly live a married life,

还有个头（有完）没有？
hai you ge tou (you wan) mei you?
Is there an end (a finish) [to it]?

我爹说：
wo die shuo:
My father said:

过家还有头吗！
guo jia hai you tou ma!
Living a married life has an end!

我爹一边铲地，
wo die yi bian chan di,
My father simulatenously shoveled the ground,

一边和我闲谈。
yi bian he wo xian shuo.
and leisurely talked with me.

讲起人生过日子的事，
jiang qi ren sheng guo ri zi de shi,
Talking about the issue of human life passing its days,

他老说：
ta lao shuo:
He always said:

“我们朝阳人，
“Wo men chao yang ren,
“We, people from Chao Yang,

每人有五亩地就保住命了。”
mei ren you wu mu di jiu bao zhu ming le.”
Every person has five Mu of land to precisely retain their life-destiny.”

当时我便暗自立志，
dang shi wo bian an zi li zhi,
At that time I exactly secretly established my determination,

决不多贪求。
jue bu duo tan qiu.
To definitely not excessively covet.

清光绪六年（1881年）王善人18岁
qing guang xu liu nian (1881 nian) wang shan ren 18 sui
Counting the sixth year of Guang Xu (year 1881)
Wang, the Kind-Hearted Man, eighteen years of age.