Page:A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1919).djvu/200

 They take him to the presence of the Mighty Jade Emperor: He bows his head and proffers loyal homage. The Emperor says: "We see you have fairy talents: Be of good heart and do not slight yourself. We shall send to fetch you in fifteen years And give you a place in the Courtyard of Immortality." Twice bowing, he acknowledged the gracious words: Then woke from sleep, full of wonder and joy. He hid his secret and dared not tell it abroad: But vowed a vow he would live in a cave of rock. From love and affection he severed kith and kin: From his eating and drinking he omitted savoury and spice. His morning meal was a dish of coral-dust: At night he sipped an essence of dewy mists. In the empty mountains he lived for thirty years Daily watching for the Heavenly Coach to come. The time of appointment was already long past. But of wings and coach-bells — still no sound. His teeth and hair daily withered and decayed: His ears and eyes gradually lost their keenness. One morning he suffered the Common Change And his body was one with the dust and dirt of the hill. Gods and fairies! If indeed such things there be, Their ways are beyond the striving of mortal men. If you have not on your skull the Golden Bump's protrusion, If your name is absent from the rolls of the Red Terrace, In vain you learn the "Method of Avoiding Food": For naught you study the "Book of Alchemic Lore." Though you sweat and toil, what shall your trouble bring? You will only shorten the five-score years of your span. Sad, alas, the man who dreamt of Fairies! For a single dream spoiled his whole life. [ 194 ]