26. Wu Mountain was the abode of nymphs and fairies. It is told that a supernally beautiful fairy appeared once in a dream to King Hsiang of Ch'u, and to his entreaties answered only that she was "morning-cloud and evening-rain upon the hills of Wu." "Cloud and rain" has come to be in Chinese a phrase indicating passionate love.
26a. Flying Swallow, Chao Fêi-yen, originally a singing-girl and a famous beauty, became a favourite of Emperor Ch'êng of the Han Dynasty, in the first century B.c. As remembered in Tu Mu's Confession, this lady was supposed to be so exquisitely slender that she could dance on the palm of the hand.
27. Mr. Ezra Pound in his Cathay, translating this and other poems by Li Po, misled readers for a period by using the Japanese name Rihoku. The reason for this would appear to be that Mr. Pound discovered the poems among the papers of Fenellosa and, finding the name as set down by some Japanese scholar, did not recognize the poet as the great Li Po. Other translators have used the name Li T'ai-po. Li was his family name, Po his given name, and T'ai-po his social name.
28. Yang-chou, called in Li Po's poem Kuang-ling, at the southern end of the Grand Canal, was in T'ang times a rich and luxurious city, of which it was said:
It was a gala resort for the wealthy and distinguished.
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