Climbing Mountains in Dream - Bo Qu Yi (772 - 846), David Hinton , Translator
Nights hiking Sung mountain in dream,
Just a goosefoot walking stick and me.
A thousand cliffs, ten thousand canyons
I wander until I have explored them all .
My stride in dream as it was in youth,
Strong and sure and so free of disease.
When I wake spirit becomes itself again
And body returned to flesh and blood.
I realize that in terms of body and spirit
Body grows sick while Spirit is immune
And yet body and spirit are both mirage
dream and waking merest appearance.
Scarcely able to hobble around by day,
Then roaming free all night with ease
In the equal division of day and night
What is there to gain here, and what lose?
