English translations from poems by Kaku-an
Chinese poems by Kuo An Zhe
 |
I. Searching for the OxAlone in the wilderness, lost in the jungle, the boy is searching, searching! The swelling waters, the far-away mountains, and the unending path; Exhausted and in despair, he knows not where to go, He only hears the evening cicadas singing in the maple-woods. |
||
|
|||
 |
II. Seeing the TracesBy the stream and under the trees, scatteredare the traces of the lost; The sweet-scented grasses are growing thick -- did he find the way? However remote over the hills and far away the beast may wander, His nose reaches the heavens and none can conceal it. |
||
|
|||
 |
III. Seeing the OxOn a yonder branch perches a nigheingalecheerfully singing; The sun is warm, and a soothing breeze blows, on the bank the willows are green; The ox is there all by himself, nowhere is he to hide himself; The splendid head decorated with stately horns -- what painter can reproduce him? |
||
|
|||
 |
IV. Catching the OxWith the energy of his whole being,boy has at last taken hold of the ox: But how wild his will, how ungovernable his power! At times he struts up a plateau, When Lo! he is lost again in a misty unpenetrable mountain-pass. |
||
|
|||
 |
V. Herding the OxThe boy is not to separate himself withhis whip and tether, Lest the animal should wander away into a world of defilements; When the ox is properly tended to, he will grow pure and docile; Without a chain, nothing binding, he will by himself follow the oxherd. |
||
|
|||
 |
VI. Coming Home on the Ox's BackRiding on the animal, he leisurelywends his way home; Enveloped in the evening mist, how tunefully the flute vanishes away! Singing a ditty, beating time, his heart is filled with a joy indescribably! That he is now one of those who know, need it be told? |
||
|
|||
 |
VII. The Ox Forgotten, Leaving the Man AloneRiding on the animal, he is at last backin his home, Where lo! the ox is no more; the man alone sits serenely. Though the red sun is high up in the sky, he is still quietly dreaming, Under a straw-thatched roof are his whip and rope idly lying. |
|
|
||
 |
VIII. The Ox and the Man Both Gone out of SightAll is empty -- the whip, the rope,the man, and the ox; Who can ever survey the vastness of heaven? Over the furnace burning ablaze, not a flake of snow can fall: When this state of things obtains, manifest is the spirit of the ancient master. |
||
|
|||
 |
IX. Returning to the Origin, Back to the SourceTo return to the Origin, to be backat the Source -- already a false step this! Far better it is to stay at home, blind and deaf, and without much ado; Sitting in the hut, he takes no cognisance of things outside, Behold the streams flowing -- whither nobody knows; and the flowers vividly red -- for whom are they? |
||
|
|||
 |
X. Entering the city with Bliss-bestowing HandsBare-chested and bare-footed, he comesout into the market-place; Daubed with mud and ashes, how broadly he smiles! There is no need for the miraculous power of the gods, For he touches, and lo! the dead trees are in full bloom. |
||
|
|||
