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| The Chinese Travelogue | (1986)
If you could dull its perspicuity, free it from chaos, limit its gleam,
liken it to a grain of dust, then it would seem to exist clearly.
| | Lao-Tse |  |
9
Unhappy
is the person who thinks of tomorrow while talking with
his guest.
Unhappy
is the person who does something and thinks that
he does it,
and not that the air and sunlight rule him,
like a brush, a butterfly, a bee,
he who plays a chord and thinks
of what comes next –
unhappy, timid and stingy.
Even more unhappy
is the person who does not forgive:
insane, he doesn’t know that the stork comes out
tame from the bushes,
that the golden ball
will soar of its own accord
into the dear sky over the dear earth.
Richard McKane
***
9
Unhappy
is he who speaks with a guest and thinks about tomorrow’s task;
unhappy
is he who does a task and thinks about completing it;
that it’s not the air and the rays that control him,
like a brush, a butterfly, or bee;
he who strikes a chord and thinks
what the next one will be
is unhappy, afraid, and miserly.
Even more unhappy
is he who does not forgive;
he’s insane and does not know
how lame storks conic out ol the hushes.
or how the golden sphere
flies up all alone
into the precious sky above the precious earth.
Andrew Wachtel | |
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| | | | | | | |  | | 9. Unhappy... |
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