that bind me to wife and child.
The support of my family, the service of my country--
For these tasks my nature is not apt.
I reckon the time that I first left my home;
From then till now,--fifteen Springs!
My lonely boat has thrice sailed to Ch`u;
Four times through Ch`in my lean horse has passed.
I have walked in the morning with hunger in my face;
I have lain at night with a soul that could not rest.
East and West I have wandered without pause,
Hither and thither like a cloud astray in the sky.
In the civil-war my old home was destroyed;
Of my flesh and blood many are scattered and lost.
North of the River, and South of the River--
In both lands are the friends of all my life;
Life-friends whom I never see at all,--
Whose deaths I hear of only after the lapse of years.
Sad at morning, I lie on my bed till dusk;
Weeping at night, I sit and wait for dawn.
The fire of sorrow has burnt my heart's core;
The frost of trouble has seized my hair's roots.
In such anguish has my whole life passed;
Long I have envied the people of Ch`en1 Village.

[22] FISHING IN THE WEI RIVER

[_A.D. 811_]

In waters still as a burnished mirror's face,
In the depths of Wei, carp and grayling swim.
Idly I come with my bamboo fishing-rod
And hang my hook by the banks of Wei stream.
A gentle wind blows on my fishing-gear
Softly shaking my ten feet of line.
Though my body sits waiting for fish to come,
My heart has wandered to the Land of Nothingness.[1]
Long ago a white-headed man[2]
Also fished at the same river's side;
A hooker of men, not a hooker of fish,
At seventy years, he caught Wen1 Wang.[2]
But _I_, when I come to cast my hook in the stream,
Have no thought either of fish or men.
Lacking the skill to capture either prey,
I can only bask in the autumn water's light.
When I tire of this, my fishing also stops;
I go to my home and drink my cup of wine.

[1] See "Chuang Tzu," chap. i, end.

[2] The Sage T`ai-kung sat still till he was seventy, apparently
fishing, but really waiting for a Prince who would employ him. At last
Wen1 Wang, Prince of Chou, happened to come that way and at once made
him his counsellor.

[23] LAZY MAN'S SONG

[_A.D. 811_]

I have got patronage, but am too lazy to use it;
I have got land, but am too lazy to