Part 7 |
Beneath the Yellow Springs |
SPRING 2198 |
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‘When I was alive, I wandered in the streets of the Capital; |
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Now that I am dead, I am left to lie in the fields. |
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In the morning I drove out from the High Hall; |
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In the evening I lodged beneath the yellow springs. |
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When the white sun had sunk in the Western Chasm |
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I hung up my chariot and rested my four horses. |
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Now, even the Maker of All |
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Could not bring the life back to my limbs. |
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Shape and substance day by day will vanish: |
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Hair and teeth will gradually fall away. |
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For ever from of old men have been so: |
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And none born can escape this thing.’ |
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—Miu Hsi, Bearer’s Song (from Han Burial Songs) |