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The following are selections from the book:
A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems
Various authors, translated by Arthur Waley (1919)
THE HAT GIVEN TO THE POET BY LI CHIEN
Long ago a white-haired gentleman
You made the present of a black gauze hat.
The gauze hat still sits on my head;
But you already are gone to the Nether Springs.
The thing is old, but still fit to wear;
The man is gone and will never be seen again.
Out on the hill the moon is shining to-night
And the trees on your tomb are swayed by the autumn wind.
THE PHILOSOPHERS
Lao-tzu
"Those who speak know nothing;
Those who know are silent."
These words, as I am told.
Were spoken by Lao-tzu.
If we are to believe that Lao-tzu
Was himself one who knew,
How comes it that he wrote a book
Of five thousand words?
Chuang-tzu, the Monist
Chuang-tzu levels all things
And reduces them to the same Monad.
But I say that even in their sameness
Difference may be found.
Although in following the promptings of their nature
They display the same tendency.
Yet it seems to me that in some ways
A phoenix is superior to a reptile!
GOING TO THE MOUNTAINS WITH
A LITTLE DANCING GIRL, AGED FIFTEEN
Written when the poet was about sixty-five
Two top-knots not yet plaited into one.
Of thirty years — just beyond half.
You who are really a lady of silks and satins
Are now become my hill and stream companion!
At the spring fountains together we splash and play:
On the lovely trees together we climb and sport.
Her cheeks grow rosy, as she quickens her sleeve-dancing:
Her brows grow sad, as she slows her song's tune.
Don't go singing the song of the Willow Branches, (1)
When there's no one here with a heart for you to break!
1. A plaintive love-song, to which Po Chü-i
had himself written words.
FLOWERS AND MOONLIGHT ON THE SPRING RIVER
By Yang-ti (605–617), emperor of the Sui dynasty
The evening river is level and motionless -
The spring colours just open to their full.
Suddenly a wave carries the moon[1] away
And the tidal water comes with its freight of stars.[1]
i.e., the reflection in the water.
THE LITTLE CART
The little cart jolting and banging through the yellow haze of dusk.
The man pushing behind: the woman pulling in front.
They have left the city and do not know where to go.
"Green, green, those elm-tree leaves: they will cure my hunger,
If only we could find some quiet place and sup on them together."
The wind has flattened the yellow mother-wort:
Above it in the distance they see the walls of a house.
"There surely must be people living who'll give you something to eat."
They tap at the door, but no one comes: they look in, but the kitchen is empty.
They stand hesitating in the lonely road and their tears fall like rain.
BOATING IN AUTUMN
By Lu Yu
Away and away I sail in my light boat;
My heart leaps with a great gust of joy.
Through the leafless branches I see the temple in the wood;
Over the dwindling stream the stone bridge towers.
Down the grassy lanes sheep and oxen pass;
In the misty village cranes and magpies cry.
Back in my home I drink a cup of wine
And need not fear the greed[1] of the evening wind.
1. Which "eats" men.
THE LITTLE LADY OF CH'ING-HSI
(A CHILDREN'S SONG)
Her door opened on the white water
Close by the side of the timber bridge:
That's where the little lady lived
All alone without a lover.
CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN
By Tao-yün [circa A. D. 400], wife of General Wang Ning-chih.
The general was so stupid that she finally deserted him.
High rises the Eastern Peak
Soaring up to the blue sky.
Among the rocks — an empty hollow,
Secret, still, mysterious!
Uncarved and unhewn.
Screened by nature with a roof of clouds.
Times and Seasons, what things are you
Bringing to my life ceaseless change?
I will lodge forever in this hollow
Where Springs and Autumns unheeded pass.
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