<p>Both are correct, you might have noticed in many ancient poems, some characters or even an entire sentence could have different versions, which are both or all correct. Some readers may favour one version while other may favour another.</p>

<p>There are many reasons for this to happen. First, in ancient times, there is no easy way of copying and pasting, reproduction is thus relayed on people if you do not happen to have the original printing template, which could introduce flaws. Moreover, the author could have made adjustment to his or her work many times, therefore different versions could be in circulating contemporarily.</p>

<p>There could be many other reasons, please see this <a href="https://www.zhihu.com/question/286776114" rel="nofollow noreferrer">post</a>.</p>

<p>By the way, in case if you are curious, please refer to this <a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%98%8E%E9%A9%BC" rel="nofollow noreferrer">webpage</a> for the meaning of 明驼。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-10T22:09:37.407Z
2018-12-11T16:51:36.930Z
2018-12-11T16:51:36.930Z
zyy
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.skhcfcn.edu.hk/subject/chn/%E5%8F%A4%E6%96%87/%E5%8F%A4%E6%96%87/%E5%8F%A4%E6%96%87100/11%E6%9C%A8%E8%98%AD%E8%BE%AD.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">木蘭詩</a></p>
<p>歸來見天子，天子坐明堂。策勳十二轉，賞賜百千強。可汗問所欲，木蘭不用尚書郎。願(借)明駝千里足，送兒還故鄉</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mulan returned to see the emperor. The Emperor asked what she wanted for reward. Mulan told the Emperor she didn't want anything, just wish to <strong>borrow</strong> a fast horse (we can presume the Royal court had the best horses) so that she could ride it and get home faster to see her family.</p>
<p>Mulan was pretending to be a man, by refusing the reward from the emperor, she put herself in a better position in case she was discovered and need to beg for forgiveness.</p>
<p>To not appear rejecting the emperor's good will, she asked for a simple item with virtuous reason- She was a good 'son' trying to serve 'his' elderly father again as soon as possible</p>
<p>If you say &quot;愿(驰)千里足&quot; - &quot;wish to (ride) a fast horse that can run thousand miles&quot; Then you have to presume she had such a horse or a way to get such horse elsewhere. It didn't answer to the Emperor's question of &quot;what you want for reward&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;願(借)明駝千里足&quot; is more logical, therefore, I support it as the original version. Even if it was not the original, I still support it as the 'standard' version today</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-11T00:08:16.327Z
2018-12-11T00:46:37.330Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>I was trying to read the original 木兰辞 poem. But I found two versions of it on the internet.</p>

<p>One line reads:</p>

<p><strong>愿借明驼千里足</strong>，送儿还故乡。</p>

<p>In the other version it's:</p>

<p><strong>愿驰千里足</strong>，送儿还故乡。</p>

<p>Which one is the original one?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<difference><poetry>
木兰辞 original poem
# 木兰辞 original poem

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-10)

I was trying to read the original 木兰辞 poem. But I found two versions of it on the internet.

One line reads:

**愿借明驼千里足**，送儿还故乡。

In the other version it's:

**愿驰千里足**，送儿还故乡。

Which one is the original one?

Thanks!

**Tags:** difference, poetry


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-12-10. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Both are correct, you might have noticed in many ancient poems, some characters or even an entire sentence could have different versions, which are both or all correct. Some readers may favour one version while other may favour another.

There are many reasons for this to happen. First, in ancient times, there is no easy way of copying and pasting, reproduction is thus relayed on people if you do not happen to have the original printing template, which could introduce flaws. Moreover, the author could have made adjustment to his or her work many times, therefore different versions could be in circulating contemporarily.

There could be many other reasons, please see this [post](https://www.zhihu.com/question/286776114).

By the way, in case if you are curious, please refer to this [webpage](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%98%8E%E9%A9%BC) for the meaning of 明驼。


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-12-11. Score: 0

> [木蘭詩](https://www.skhcfcn.edu.hk/subject/chn/%E5%8F%A4%E6%96%87/%E5%8F%A4%E6%96%87/%E5%8F%A4%E6%96%87100/11%E6%9C%A8%E8%98%AD%E8%BE%AD.htm)
>
> 歸來見天子，天子坐明堂。策勳十二轉，賞賜百千強。可汗問所欲，木蘭不用尚書郎。願(借)明駝千里足，送兒還故鄉

Mulan returned to see the emperor. The Emperor asked what she wanted for reward. Mulan told the Emperor she didn't want anything, just wish to **borrow** a fast horse (we can presume the Royal court had the best horses) so that she could ride it and get home faster to see her family.

Mulan was pretending to be a man, by refusing the reward from the emperor, she put herself in a better position in case she was discovered and need to beg for forgiveness.

To not appear rejecting the emperor's good will, she asked for a simple item with virtuous reason- She was a good 'son' trying to serve 'his' elderly father again as soon as possible

If you say "愿(驰)千里足" - "wish to (ride) a fast horse that can run thousand miles" Then you have to presume she had such a horse or a way to get such horse elsewhere. It didn't answer to the Emperor's question of "what you want for reward"

"願(借)明駝千里足" is more logical, therefore, I support it as the original version. Even if it was not the original, I still support it as the 'standard' version today


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