A Lonely Traveller

What an elegant lace parasol you are! In scorching hot summer, you fend off the malicious sunlight
for the young ladies in daylight,
as cheerful as daffodils, swaying
to the melody,
the summer breeze
you bring.


Dancing gracefully
after
your footsteps,
the misty rain
trickling lightly
down
like
a fine gentle hand
caressing
each
flower
bud

...

Saying goodbye at dawn to Baidi in swirling colorful clouds,
I’m sailing thousands of miles down to Jiangling City
within a single day.
While apes’ calls are still echoing from both banks,
my light boat has passed through thousands of mountains.

Walking on a small country lane,
My company is a homeward-bound buffalo in the evening.
Blue sky wears a corsage of a setting sun on her chest;
rosy clouds are the gowns of the sunset glow.

Carrying a hoe on my shoulder,
I hear a shepherd boy's song floating in the air.
Oh! They are singing now
with a bamboo flute playing faintly.

Smiles written on the faces,
they are humming a country tune,
leaving trains of ...

The moon is leaning downward;
a crow is cawing in a sky of frost.
A maple tree by the river is sleeping alone
against the light from a fishing boat.
Outside the town Gusu, a bell from Cold Mountain Temple
rings across the midnight and reaches a guest boat.

You have been calling
since Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden,
calling forth an eternal memory for all mankind
throughout history.

You're calling again now,
calling up a field of wildflowers and a forest of green trees
under a sky of floating white cloud
for a lonely traveler in a fool's paradise.