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;[3]
With wine I watered the three Vital Spots. 
Day by day joining the broken clod
I have lived till now almost sound and whole. 
There is no gap in my two rows of teeth;
Limbs and body still serve me well. 
Already I have opened the seventh book of years;
Yet I eat my fill and sleep quietly;
I drink, while I may, the wine that lies in my cup,
And all else commit to Heaven’s care.

[1] The famous poet, d. 824 A.D.

[2] Carbamide crystals.

[3] Heart, liver, stomach, lungs and kidney.

[54] A MAD POEM ADDRESSED TO MY NEPHEWS AND NIECES

[A.D. 835]

    The World cheats those who cannot read;
    I, happily, have mastered script and pen. 
    The World cheats those who hold no office;
    I am blessed with high official rank. 
                The old are often ill;
    I, at this day have not an ache or pain. 
                They are often burdened with ties;
    But I have finished with marriage and giving in marriage. 
    No changes happen to disturb the quiet of my mind;
    No business comes to impair the vigour of my limbs. 
    Hence it is that now for ten years
    Body and soul have rested in hermit peace. 
    And all the more, in the last lingering years
    What I shall need are very few things. 
    A single rug to warm me through the winter;
    One meal to last me the whole day. 
    It does not matter that my house is rather small;
    One cannot sleep in more than one room! 
    It does not matter that I have not many horses;
    One cannot ride in two coaches at once! 
    As fortunate as me among the people of the world
    Possibly one would find seven out of ten. 
    As contented as me among a hundred men
    Look as you may, you will not find one. 
    In the affairs of others even fools are wise;
    In their own business even sages err. 
    To no one else would I dare to speak my heart,
    So my wild words are addressed to my nephews and nieces.

[55] OLD AGE

[Addressed to Liu Yuu-hsi, who was born in the same year]

[A.D. 835]

    We are growing old together, you and I,
    Let us ask ourselves, what is age like? 
    The dull eye is closed ere night comes;
    The idle head, still uncombed at noon. 
    Propped on a staff, sometimes a walk abroad;
    Or all day sitting with closed doors. 
    One dares not look in the