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To: alt.philosophy.taoism From: zhoubu@ix.netcom.com(Miller Jew) Subject: Taoist poetry Date: 19 Jul 1997 16:53:34 GMT ref: Taoist poetry (For the lovers of the "Chuang Tzu"...) THE SKULL I, Chang P'ing-tzu, had traversed the Nine Wilds and seen their wonders, In the eight continents beheld the ways of Man, The Sun's procession, the orbit of the Stars, The surging of the dragon, and soaring of the phonenix in his flight. In the red desert to the south I sweltered, And northward waded through the wintry burghs of Yu. Through the Valley of the Darkness to the west I wandered, And eastward travelled to the Suns's extreme abode, The stooping Mulberry Tree. So the seasons sped; weak autumn languished, A small wind woke the cold. And now with reading rein-horse, Plunging of the tracer, round I fetched My high-roofed chariot to westward. Along the dykes we loitered, past many meadows, And far away among the dunes and hills. Suddenly I looked and by the roadside I saw a man's bones lying in the squelchy earth, Black rime-frost over him; and I in sorrow spoke And asked him, saying, "Dead man, how was it? Fled you with your friend from famine and for the last grains Gambled and lost? Was this earth your tomb, Or did floods carry you from afar? Where you mighty, were you wise, Were you foolish and poor? A warrior, or a wimp?" Then a wonder came; for out of the silence a voice-- Thin echo only, in no substance was the Spirit seen-- Mysteriously answered, saying, "I was a man of Sung, Of the clan of Chuang; Chou was my name. Beyond the climes of common thought My reason soared, yet could I not save myself; For as the last, when the long charter of my years was told, I, too, for all my magic, my Age was brought To the Black Hill of Death. Wherefore, O Master, do you question me?" Then I answered: "Let me plead for you upon the Five Hill-tops, Let me pray for you to the Gods of Heaven and the Gods of Earth, That your white bones may arise, And your limbs be joined anew. The God of the North shall give me back your ears; I will scour the Southland for your eyes. From the sunrise I will wrest your feet; The West shall yield your heart. I will set each several organ in its throne; Each subtle sense will I restore. Would you not have it so?" The dead man answered me: "O Friend, how strange and unanswerable your words! In death I rest and am at peace; in life, I toiled and strove. Is the hardness of the winter stream Better than the melting of spring? All pride that the body knew Was it not lighter than dust? What Ch'ao and Hsu despised, What Po-ch'eng fled, Shall I desire, whom death Already has hidden in the Eternal Way-- Where Li Chu cannot see me, Nor Tzu Yeh hear me, Where neither Yao nor Shun can reward me, Not the tyrants Chieh and Hsin condemn me, Leopard nor tiger harm me, Lance prick me nor sword wound me? Of the Primal Spirit is my substance; I am a wave In the river of Darkness and Light. The Maker of All Things is my Father and Mother, Heaven is my bed and earth my cushion, The thunder and lightening are my drum and fan, The sun and moon my candle and my torch, The Milky Way my moat, the stars my jewels. With Nature my substance is joined; I have no passion, no desire, Wash me and I shall be no whiter, Foul me and I shall yet be clean. I come not, yet am here; Hasten not, yet am swift." The voice stopped, there was silence. A ghostly light Faded and expired. I gazed upon the dead, stared in sorrow and compassion. Then I called upon my servant that was with me To tie his silken scarf about those bones And wrap them in a cloak of sombre dust; While I, as offering to the soul of this dead man, Poured my hot tears upon the margin of the road. --Chang Heng 78-139 A.D./tr.A.Waley --Zhou
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