More Translations from the Chinese Part 9

From my high castle I look at the town below Where the natives of Pa cl.u.s.ter like a swarm of flies.

How can I govern these people and lead them aright?

I cannot even understand what they say.

But at least I am glad, now that the taxes are in, To learn that in my province there is no discontent.

I fear its prosperity is not due to me And was only caused by the year's abundant crops, The papers that lie on my desk are simple and few; My house by the moat is leisurely and still.

In the autumn rain the berries fall from the eaves; At the evening bell the birds return to the wood.

A broken sunlight quavers over the southern porch Where I lie on my couch abandoned to idleness.

[41] LODGING WITH THE OLD MAN OF THE STREAM

[_A.D. 820_]

Men's hearts love gold and jade; Men's mouths covet wine and flesh.

Not so the old man of the stream; He drinks from his gourd and asks nothing more.

South of the stream he cuts firewood and gra.s.s; North of the stream he has built wall and roof.

Yearly he sows a single acre of land; In spring he drives two yellow calves.

In these things he finds great repose; Beyond these he has no wish or care.

By chance I met him walking by the water-side; He took me home and lodged me in his thatched hut.

When I parted from him, to seek market and Court, This old man asked my rank and pay.

Doubting my tale, he laughed loud and long: "Privy Councillors do not sleep in barns."

[42] TO HIS BROTHER HSING-CHIEN

[_A.D. 820_]

Can the single cup of wine We drank this morning have made my heart so glad?

This is a joy that comes only from within, Which those who witness will never understand.

I have but two brothers And bitterly grieved that both were far away; This Spring, back through the Gorges of Pa, I have come to them safely, ten thousand leagues.

Two sisters I had Who had put up their hair, but not twined the sash;[1]

Yesterday both were married and taken away By good husbands in whom I may well trust.

I am freed at last from the thoughts that made me grieve, As though a sword had cut a rope from my neck.

And limbs grow light when the heart sheds its care: Suddenly I seem to be flying up to the sky!

Hsing-chien, drink your cup of wine Then set it down and listen to what I say.

Do not sigh that your home is far away; Do not mind if your salary is small.

Only pray that as long as life lasts, You and I may never be forced to part.

[1] I.e., got married.

[43] THE PINE-TREES IN THE COURTYARD

[_A.D. 820_]

Below the hall The pine-trees grow in front of the steps, Irregularly scattered,--not in ordered lines.

Some are tall and some are low: The tallest of them is six roods high; The lowest but ten feet.

They are like wild things And no one knows who planted them.

They touch the walls of my blue-tiled house; Their roots are sunk in the terrace of white sand.

Morning and evening they are visited by the wind and moon; Rain or fine,--they are free from dust and mud.

In the gales of autumn they whisper a vague tune; From the suns of summer they yield a cool shade.

At the height of spring the fine evening rain Fills their leaves with a load of hanging pearls.

At the year's end the time of great snow Stamps their branches with a fret of glittering jade.

Of the Four Seasons each has its own mood; Among all the trees none is like another.

Last year, when they heard I had bought this house, Neighbours mocked and the World called me mad-- That a whole family of twice ten souls Should move house for the sake of a few pines!

Now that I have come to them, what have they given me?

They have only loosened the buckles of my care.

Yet even so, they are "profitable friends,"[1]

And fill my need of "converse with wise men."

Yet when I consider how, still a man of the world, In belt and cap I scurry through dirt and dust, From time to time my heart twinges with shame That I am not fit to be master of my pines!

[1] See "a.n.a.lects of Confucius" 4 and 5, where three kinds of "profitable friends" and three kinds of "profitable pleasures" are described; the third of the latter being "plenty of intelligent companions."

[44] SLEEPING ON HORSEBACK

[_A.D. 822_]

We had rode long and were still far from the inn; My eyes grew dim; for a moment I fell asleep.

Under my right arm the whip still dangled; In my left hand the reins for an instant slackened.

Suddenly I woke and turned to question my groom: "We have gone a hundred paces since you fell asleep."

Body and spirit for a while had exchanged place; Swift and slow had turned to their contraries.

For these few steps that my horse had carried me Had taken in my dream countless aeons of time!

True indeed is that saying of Wise Men "A hundred years are but a moment of sleep."

[45] PARTING FROM THE WINTER STOVE

[_A.D. 822_]

On the fifth day after the rise of Spring, Everywhere the season's gracious alt.i.tudes!