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“Unsettled, a bird lost from the flock --
Keeps flying by itself in the dusk.
Back and forth, it has no resting place,
Night after night, more anguished its cries.
Its shrill sound yearns for the pure and distant --
Coming from afar, how anxiously it flutters!
It chances to find a pine tree growing all apart;
Folding its wings, it has come home at last.
In the gusty wind there is no dense growth;
This canopy alone does not decay.
Having found a perch to roost on,
In a thousand years it will not depart.”
―
Keeps flying by itself in the dusk.
Back and forth, it has no resting place,
Night after night, more anguished its cries.
Its shrill sound yearns for the pure and distant --
Coming from afar, how anxiously it flutters!
It chances to find a pine tree growing all apart;
Folding its wings, it has come home at last.
In the gusty wind there is no dense growth;
This canopy alone does not decay.
Having found a perch to roost on,
In a thousand years it will not depart.”
―
“The distant heavens are vast, and human affairs are incessant. Some understand while others are confused; who can fathom the reason behind it all? It is better to guard one's poverty and satisfy one's heart, rather than bend and compromise, harming oneself. Since officialdom is difficult and glory hard to achieve, does wearing a tattered robe bring shame? Understanding the limitations and choosing to remain unassuming, contentedly retiring from the world. Embracing a lonely disposition, peacefully living this life, and never betraying one's soul for ambition.”
― Collected Works of Tao Yuanming: Classic Masterpieces of the Pastoral Poet
― Collected Works of Tao Yuanming: Classic Masterpieces of the Pastoral Poet
