inscribed by Po Chü-i, on the wall of the Lo-k‘ou Inn._]


My clumsy poem on the inn-wall none cared to see.
With bird-droppings and moss’s growth the letters were blotched away.
There came a guest with heart so full, that though a page to the
Throne,
He did not grudge with his broidered coat to wipe off the dust, and
read.




[21] CHU CH‘ĒN VILLAGE

[_A.D. 811_]


In Hsü-chou, in the District of Ku-fēng
There lies a village whose name is Chu-ch‘ēn--
A hundred miles away from the county-town,
Amid fields of hemp and green of mulberry-trees.
Click, click goes the sound of the spinning-wheel;
Mules and oxen pack the village-streets.
The girls go drawing the water from the brook;
The men go gathering fire-wood on the hill.
So far from the town Government affairs are few;
So deep in the hills, man’s ways are simple.
Though they have wealth, they do not traffic with it;
Though they reach the age, they do not enter the Army.