THE MAN WHO DREAMED OF FAIRIES
This poem is an attack on the Emperor Hsien-tsung, A. D. 806–820, who "was devoted to magic." A Taoist wizard told him that herbs of longevity grew near the city of T'ai-chou. The Emperor at once appointed him prefect of the place, "pour lui permettre d'herboriser plus à son aise" [Wieger, Textes III, p. 1723]. When the censors protested, the Emperor replied: "The ruin of a single district would be a small price to pay, if it could procure longevity for the Lord of Men."
There was once a man who dreamt he went to Heaven:
His dream-body soared aloft through space.
He rode on the back of a white-plumed crane,
And was led on his flight by two crimson banners.
Whirring of wings and flapping of coat tails!
Jade bells suddenly all a-tinkle!
Half way to Heaven, he looked down beneath him,
Down on the dark turmoil of the World.
Gradually he lost the place of his native town;
Mountains and water — nothing else distinct.
The Eastern Ocean — a single strip of white:
The Hills of China, — five specks of green.
Gliding past him a host of fairies swept
In long procession to the Palace of the Jade City.
How should he guess that the children of Tzü-mēn[1]
Bow to the throne like courtiers of earthly kings?
- ↑ I.e., the Immortals.
