Page:A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1919).djvu/199

 THE MAN WHO DREAMED OF FAIRIES

This poem is an attack on the Emperor Hsien-tsung, A. D. ''806–820, who "was devoted to magic." A Taoist wizard told him that herbs of longevity grew near the city of T'ai-chou. The Emperor at once appointed him prefect of the place, "pour lui permettre d'herboriser plus à son aise" [Wieger, Textes III, p. 1723'']. When the censors protested, the Emperor replied: "The ruin of a single district would be a small price to pay, if it could procure longevity for the Lord of Men."

was once a man who dreamt he went to Heaven: His dream-body soared aloft through space. He rode on the back of a white-plumed crane, And was led on his flight by two crimson banners. Whirring of wings and flapping of coat tails! Jade bells suddenly all a-tinkle! Half way to Heaven, he looked down beneath him, Down on the dark turmoil of the World. Gradually he lost the place of his native town; Mountains and water — nothing else distinct. The Eastern Ocean — a single strip of white: The Hills of China, — five specks of green. Gliding past him a host of fairies swept In long procession to the Palace of the Jade City. How should he guess that the children of Tzü-mēn Bow to the throne like courtiers of earthly kings? [ 193 ]