The Jade Mountain/My Retreat at Mount Chung-nan

by Wang Wei

MY RETREAT AT MOUNT CHUNG-NAN

My heart in middle age found the Way,And I came to dwell at the foot of this mountain.When the spirit moves, I wander aloneAmid beauty that is all for me. . .I will walk till the water checks my path,Then sit and watch the rising clouds—And some day meet an old wood-cutterAnd talk and laugh and never return.

(32, 75)