This last is from a friend to a friend at a distance :
" Ah, when shall we ever snuff candles again, And recall the glad hours of that evening of rain t " >
A popular poet of the ninth century was Li SH, especially well known for the story of his capture by highwaymen. The chief knew him by name and called for a sample of his art, eliciting the following lines, which immediately secured his release :
n The rainy mist sweeps gently
der the village by the stream. When from the leafy forest glades
the brigand daggers gleam. . . . And yet there is no need to fear,
nor step from out their way, For more than half the world consists
of bigger rogues than they / "
A popular physician in great request, as well as a poet, was MA Tztf-JAN (d. A.D. 880). He studied Taoism in a hostile sense, as would appear from the following poem by him ; nevertheless, according to tradition, he was ultimately taken up to heaven alive :
" In youth I went to study TAO
at its living fountain-head, And then lay tipsy half the day
upon a gilded bed. ' What oaf is this,' the Master cried,
'content -with human lot?' And bade me to the world get back
and call myself a sot. But wherefore seek immortal life
by means of wondrous pills f Noise is not in the market-place,
nor quiet on the hills.
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