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www.chinapage.org/poet-e/taoy2e.html
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Young, I was always free of common feeling. It was in my nature to love the hills and mountains. Mindlessly I was caught in the dust-filled trap. Waking up, thirty years had gone. The caged bird wants the old trees and air. Fish in their pool miss the ancient stream. I plough the earth at the edge of South Moor. Keeping life simple, return to my plot and garden. My place is hardly more than a few fields. My house has eight or nine small rooms. Elm-trees and Willows shade the back. Plum-trees and Peach-trees reach the door. Misted, misted the distant village. Drifting, the soft swirls of smoke. Somewhere a dog barks deep in the winding lanes. A cockerel crows from the top of the mulberry tree. No heat and dust behind my closed doors. My bare rooms are filled with space and silence. Too long a prisoner, captive in a cage, Now I can get back again to Nature.
Tr. Tony Kline |
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In the summer grass and trees have grown. Over my roof the branches meet. Birds settle in the leaves. I enjoy my humble place. Ploughing’s done, the ground is sown, Time to sit and read my book. The narrow deeply-rutted lane Means my friends forget to call. Content, I pour the new Spring wine, Go out and gather food I’ve grown. A light rain from the East, Blows in on a pleasant breeze. I read the story of King Mu, See pictures of the Hills and Seas. One glance finds all of heaven and earth. What pleasures can compare with these? Note: King Mu (1001-947BC) of the Chou Dynasty dined with the Queen of the Immortals, Si Wang Mu, in the Western Paradise (among the Kun-lun mountains of Tibet). There she tended the garden where the peach-tree grew that supported the Universe. Her Paradise was that of exalted purity, the jade or pearl mountain, entered through a golden door. The peaches conferred immortality. She later visited Emperor Wu Ti of Han (r.141-97BC) riding on a white dragon, gave him a peach from the tree, and taught him the secrets of eternal life. Wu built a tower with a golden vase on its summit to collect the pure dew that dripped from the stars.
Tr. Tony Kline |
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The pangs of hunger drove me from my home; with no idea of where to go I travelled on for miles until I reached a village, knocked on the nearest door, blurted out some clumsy words. The owner understood my need his warmth dispelled my shame that I'd come empty-handed. We played and sang till sunset, the wine-cups often tilted, with the pleasure of new-found friends we chanted and composed verses. I remember the story of the washerwoman. * Ashamed that I lack the skills of general Han, how can I show my gratitude? I can only repay him in the world to come.
* When young and starving, Han Xin was shown kindness by an old washerwoman
who brought him food. When he later became a great general, he repaid her
with a fortune in gold.
Tr. Mike Farman |
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