Hwangbo, the Secretary, Answered My Poem Left at Suryang Temple, So I Use the Earlier Rhymes Again皇甫書記見和。壽量寺留題。復用前韻。

A white-haired magistrate of a worn-out district is up in the old temple pavilion with its red ridgepole. Last year I took advantage of sick leave and had a few days of idle roaming. The cunning rat runs off and hides in its hole; the hidden bird comes down and bathes in the water. Reaching the gate, I drive off the barking dog; choosing a tree, I tie up the whinnying horse. In the orchid plot I think of the poets of old; in the melon field I long for the marquis of old. Too lazy to straighten my hempen cap, worn out, I now throw myself down on the wooden bench. Pecking at millet, the hen calls to her mate; along the corner of the thicket the deer must surely pass. Having taken its fill of frost, the red persimmon ripens soft; turning against the sun, the green paulownia has grown tall. The blind sways and the silver garlic-ring swings; under the eaves-drip the wooden gutter has rotted away. The taro has fattened, and the tubers it hides are large; the pear has ripened, and its flesh is tender. For a field meal they boil the fruit of the wild rice; for country wine they pawn a few bundles of hemp. Before I know it I have grown idle as the Grandee of Zhongshan, and I work off the sorrow of Zhongxuan (仲宣). Wind and moon I enjoy to the very edge of the sky; stream and hill I seek out to the end of the earth. The mountain mist is deep and beads up thickly; the clouds are thin and float far away. Stripping the mulberry, they raise a thousand cocoons; the rice has ripened, and ten thousand oxen have been put to work. My poems have no fine lines in them, and what little I wrote stopped with the clear autumn. To paint the whole of the mountain's scenery I must first get oil enough to see the night through. The greens on the platter differ a thousand ways; the fruits of the season are packed a hundred thick. What buttons would one sew on country clothes? What use is a crupper strap on a bamboo sedan (藍輿)? The side-horse comes on dangerously and I would rein it in; thoughts of parting spread wide and are hard to gather up. Once more I look toward the green banner of the wine shop, and at once throw off my purple silk fur coat. How much more, when colleagues come calling in numbers and I am held back by my host instead. Setting out alone, at first I had no companion; enjoying it together, I have already gained a friend. The pine in the yard is lean as a dragon's scales; the bamboo shoots by the steps are mottled like a leopard's markings. The finest of the scenery the earth-spirit had hidden away, and we have stolen it in broad daylight. The lotus stalk leans like a jade handle; the chestnut burr drops like a ball of fur. A deft line is like scratching where it itches; a subtle word is more refreshing than lancing a wart. Strange that you, who have not even seen the place, should picture its things so thoroughly. You promise to go seeking the fine spots with me, and all at once it feels like being let out of prison. The turf is level, as though a green blanket were spread; the vines hang down, as though they tugged at a green banner. In the small well clear ripples gather; in the empty house a refreshing sound of wind arises. Opening the collar is enough to wash the heat away, and waxed clogs are ample to lighten care. In the pitch of poetry you have no match; in the judging of go I am rather the better. The strings of the government office we have a courtesan called in to play; the wine of the house we have a boy strain for us. Pleasure too lies within all this; why should the heart seek it outside of this? Being ill, I borrow the strength of a staff; being old, if I take up a mirror it becomes my enemy. Living in a back corner, I am a snail putting out its horns; meeting people, I am a turtle drawing in its head. I have not managed to bore through the wall and run away, but I shall loosen the seal-cord and come to rest at last. I mean only to carry out my plan of eating pigweed soup; why should I give thought to schemes for eating meat? The one to rescue the age is you alone, and the counsels of the court await a Xun You (荀攸).