Page:More Translations from the Chinese (Waley).djvu/64

 [32] VISITING THE HSI-LIN TEMPLE

from my horse at the Hsi-lin Temple; I throw the porter my slender riding-whip. In the morning I work at a Government office-desk; In the evening I become a dweller in the Sacred Hills. In the second month to the north of Kuang-lu The ice breaks and the snow begins to melt. On the southern plantation the tea-plant thrusts its sprouts; Through the northern sluice the veins of the spring ooze.

This year there is war in An-hui, In every place soldiers are rushing to arms. Men of learning have been summoned to the Council Board; Men of action are marching to the battle-line. Only I, who have no talents at all, Am left in the mountains to play with the pebbles of the stream. [60]