And the Five Hills quake;
When the poem is done, my laughter soars
To the Blue Isles[1] of the sky.
Riches, Honour, Triumph, Fame,
Than that you should long endure,
It were likelier the stream of the River Han
Should flow to the North-West!
Do you remember how once at Lo-yang, Tung Tsao-ch'in built us a wine-tower south of the T'ien-ching Bridge?
With yellow gold and tallies of white jade we bought songs and laughter, and we were drunk month after month, with no thought of kings and princes, though among us were the wisest and bravest within the Four Seas, and men of high promotion.[2]
(But with you above all my heart was at no cross-purpose.)[3] Going round mountains and skirting lakes was as nothing to them. They poured out their hearts and minds, and held nothing back.
Then I went off to Huai-nan to pluck the laurel-branches,[4] and you stayed north of the Lo, sighing over thoughts and dreams.
We could not endure separation. We sought each other out and went on and on together, exploring the Fairy Castle.[5]
We followed the thirty-six bends of the twisting waters, and all along the streams a thousand different flowers were in bloom. We passed through ten thousand valleys, and in each we heard the voice of wind among the pines.
