Part 11 (1/2)

[_A.D. 832_]

At dawn I sighed to see my hairs fall; At dusk I sighed to see my hairs fall.

For I dreaded the time when the last lock should go ...

They are all gone and I do not mind at all!

I have done with that c.u.mbrous was.h.i.+ng and getting dry; My tiresome comb for ever is laid aside.

Best of all, when the weather is hot and wet, To have no top-knot weighing down on one's head!

I put aside my dusty conical cap; And loose my collar-fringe.

In a silver jar I have stored a cold stream; On my bald pate I trickle a ladle-full.

Like one baptized with the Water of Buddha's Law, I sit and receive this cool, cleansing joy.

_Now_ I know why the priest who seeks Repose Frees his heart by first shaving his head.

[53] THINKING OF THE PAST

[_A.D. 833_]

In an idle hour I thought of former days; And former friends seemed to be standing in the room.

And then I wondered ”Where are they now?”

Like fallen leaves they have tumbled to the Nether Springs.

Han Yu[1] swallowed his sulphur pills, Yet a single illness carried him straight to the grave.

Yuan Chen smelted autumn stone[2]

But before he was old, his strength crumbled away.

Master Tu possessed the ”Secret of Health”: All day long he fasted from meat and spice.

The Lord Ts'ui, trusting a strong drug, Through the whole winter wore his summer coat.

Yet some by illness and some by sudden death ...

All vanished ere their middle years were pa.s.sed.

Only I, who have never dieted myself Have thus protracted a tedious span of age, I who in young days Yielded lightly to every l.u.s.t and greed; Whose palate craved only for the richest meat And knew nothing of bis.m.u.th or calomel.

When hunger came, I gulped steaming food; When thirst came, I drank from the frozen stream.

With verse I served the spirits of my Five Guts;[3]

With wine I watered the three Vital Spots.

Day by day joining the broken clod I have lived till now almost sound and whole.

There is no gap in my two rows of teeth; Limbs and body still serve me well.

Already I have opened the seventh book of years; Yet I eat my fill and sleep quietly; I drink, while I may, the wine that lies in my cup, And all else commit to Heaven's care.

[1] The famous poet, d. 824 A.D.

[2] Carbamide crystals.