Page:More Translations from the Chinese (Waley).djvu/89

 [53] THINKING OF THE PAST

an idle hour I thought of former days; And former friends seemed to be standing in the room. And then I wondered "Where are they now?" Like fallen leaves they have tumbled to the Nether Springs. Han Yü swallowed his sulphur pills, Yet a single illness carried him straight to the grave. Yüan Chēn smelted autumn stone But before he was old, his strength crumbled away. Master Tu possessed the "Secret of Health": All day long he fasted from meat and spice. The Lord Ts'ui, trusting a strong drug, Through the whole winter wore his summer coat. Yet some by illness and some by sudden death. . . All vanished ere their middle years were passed.

Only I, who have never dieted myself Have thus protracted a tedious span of age, I who in young days Yielded lightly to every lust and greed; Whose palate craved only for the richest meat And knew nothing of bismuth or calomel. When hunger came, I gulped steaming food; When thirst came, I drank from the frozen stream. With verse I served the spirits of my Five Guts; With wine I watered the three Vital Spots. [85]