Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/238

 226 CHINESE LITERATURE

But the Son of Heaven says ' No ! it was God. And God says ' No ! it was Nature?

And as Nature lies beyond the ken of man,

Another piece refers to a recluse who

" Kept a couple of cranes, which he had carefully trained ; and every morning he would release them west- wards through the gap, to fly away and alight in the marsh below or soar aloft among the clouds as the birds' own fancy might direct. At nightfall they would return with the utmost regularity."

This piece is also finished off with a few poetical lines :

" Away ! away ! my birds, fly westwards now, To wheel on high and gaze on all below; To swoop together, pinions closed, to earth; To soar aloft once more among the clouds ; To wander all day long in sedgy -vale; To gather duckweed in the stony marsh. Come back ! come back ! beneath the lengthening shades^ Your serge-clad master stands, guitar in hand. Tts he that feeds you from his slender store : Come back ! come back ! nor linger in the west"

His account of Sleep-Land is based upon the Drunk- Land of Wang Chi :

"A pure administration and admirable morals pre- vail there, the whole being one vast level tract, with no north, south, east, or west. The inhabitants are quiet and affable ; they suffer from no diseases of any kind, neither are they subject to the influences of the seven passions. They have no concern with the ordinary affairs of life ; they do not distinguish heaven, earth, the sun, and the moon ; they toil not, neither do they spin ; but simply lie down and enjoy themselves. They

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