No plans to go looking for such solitude,
I set out on a whim, never mind distance.
Hiking up through boundless cliffs hard,
broad daylight’s fading away in no time,
and before I pass three or four mountains,
the path’s taken a million twists and turns.
In silence, deep silence, a gibbon shrieks.
I walk on and on, watching clouds build,
then a perfect moon clears towering pines,
opening autumn clarity into an empty valley.
There’s still old snow in ravines up here,
and cold streams begin among broken rock.
Countless peaks deep in heaven, I climb on,
gazing into them, but they’re inexhaustible.
Then Tan-ch’iu calls out in these distances,
and spotting me, breaks into a sudden smile.
Watchful, I cross into this valley, seeing
in it the ease you’ve mastered in stillness,
and soon we’re lingering out ageless night,
leaving talk of return for clear dawn light.