Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/189

 This last is from a friend to a friend at a distance :

" Ah, when shall we ever snuff candles again, And recall the glad hours of that evening of rain t " >

A popular poet of the ninth century was Li SH, especially well known for the story of his capture by highwaymen. The chief knew him by name and called for a sample of his art, eliciting the following lines, which immediately secured his release :

n The rainy mist sweeps gently

der the village by the stream. When from the leafy forest glades

the brigand daggers gleam. . . . And yet there is no need to fear,

nor step from out their way, For more than half the world consists

of bigger rogues than they / "

A popular physician in great request, as well as a poet, was MA Tztf-JAN (d. A.D. 880). He studied Taoism in a hostile sense, as would appear from the following poem by him ; nevertheless, according to tradition, he was ultimately taken up to heaven alive :

" In youth I went to study TAO

at its living fountain-head, And then lay tipsy half the day

upon a gilded bed. ' What oaf is this,' the Master cried,

'content -with human lot?' And bade me to the world get back

and call myself a sot. But wherefore seek immortal life

by means of wondrous pills f Noise is not in the market-place,

nor quiet on the hills.

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