The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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29

Raising girls brings up many fears. Those already born should be trained well. Push at their heads to make them attentive, whip their backs to keep their mouths shut. If they can’t operate a shuttle and loom, how can they use brooms and dustpans? Old woman Zhang tells her donkey foal, “When you grow up, don’t be like your mother.”

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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28

Wandering, I arrive at Above the Sky Pavilion, where I climb the hundred-foot tower in vain. Even if we nurture life, our lives are short, how will making myself study turn me into a lord? It’s useless to follow the advice of immature people. Why should I be ashamed of my white hair? Not yet as straight as an arrow, I won’t be bent like a hook.

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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27

In the village where I live, people flatter me as incomparable. Yesterday, I went to the city and was glared at by dogs. People either hated my narrow pants or said my jacket was too long. While the sparrow hawk’s eyes are crossed, sparrows dance with confidence.

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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26

Your writing and judgment are not at all poor, so I wonder why you didn’t pass the official exam. The examiners may have been twisted or perverse to rinse off your dirt, seeking sores and scars. This must be your destiny. Try again this winter. Even if a blind person shoots at a sparrow’s eye, an accidental hit is not impossible!

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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25

When Dong was young, he used to visit the imperial palace in a jacket made of yellow duckling feathers, so he resembled a painting. He always rode on a horse with white hooves that kicked up the red dust. Onlookers packed the roadside, wondering whose child he could be.

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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24

As a youth, I carried scriptures and a hoe, while living with my brother’s family. But others made accusations and even my own wife turned her back. So I left the dusty world to live idly, reading books. Who can offer a bucketful of water to rescue this fish from its cart track puddle?

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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23

When I think back on my young days, I used to hunt at the imperial field. Not wanting to be a national envoy, and saying that being an immortal wasn’t good enough, I’d gallop astride my white horse, shouting at rabbits and letting my green hawk fly. Without realizing it, I took a great plunge. Could anyone see my white hair now and feel pity?

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Are people just out there editing wikis, slinging death threats around?

The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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22

The wife is too lazy to weave at the loom, the husband too slothful to plow for rice. He enjoys hunting with his arrows and bow, while she shuffles around, strumming her lute. When freezing to the bone, get covered up fast, to have a full belly, eat some food first. Who would care about you now if you suffer and wail to the heavens?

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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21

In spring, a woman dresses up to stroll with other women down a southern road. She enjoys the flowers, but dreads day’s turn into night, and shelters behind a tree, afraid of the blowing wind. A young man from nearby approaches on a white horse with a golden bridle. Why do they dally together so long? At home, her husband knows.

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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20

Girls call to each other while gathering lotus blossoms— what a lovely pure river village! They play and play, not noticing the dusk, or the crazy winds that often come up. Rising waves lift the ducklings, large ducks sway in the eddies. Paddling idly here in a boat, this vast gentle feeling may never end.

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The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan

Translation: Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt

Part One: Original Poems, Circa Late Sixth to Early Seventh Century

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19

In Luoyang there are many women who display their charms on a spring day. They pick roadside blossoms so each can ornament her topknot. Their flowery hairdos entice those around, though others look down on them and glare. Why seek out troublesome lovers? Go home to see your husbands.

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