772–846
After Quiet Joys at South Garden
Sent by P’ei Tu
This hut isolate and clear beside the pond:
surely this is what lofty thoughts must be,
blinds in the occasional breeze stirring,
a bridge shining late sun back into water.
I’ve grown quiet here, company to cranes,
and so idle I’m like any other cloud adrift.
Why bother to go study under Duke Liu
or search wild peaks for Master Red Pine?
Translated from the Chinese by David Hinton.