The layered bloom of hills and streams
kingfisher shades beneath rose-colored clouds
mountain mist soaks my cotton bandana
dew penetrates my palm-bark coat
on my feet are traveling shoes
my hand holds an old vine staff
again I gaze beyond the dusty world
what more could I want in that land of dreams.
- Han Shan (aka Cold Mountain) 9th Century Tang Dynasty

Translator notes:

The fibrous bark of the coir-palm is still worn as rain gear by the poorer farmers of South China. During the T'ang dynasty, most people wore wooden clogs around their yards (similar to those still worn in Japan) and shoes made of hemp when walking long distances. I'm not sure what sort of vine Cold Mountain used, but in negotiating slippery slopes in the coastal regions of South China, I have found the light weight and tensile strength of a banyan's aerial root especially useful as well as widely available. In Buddhist parlance, “dust” refers to sensation and “dreams” to delusions, both of which are obstacles to enlightenment.
- Red Pine from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain

. . . . .

The layered bloom of mountain rivers,
kingfishers and mountain mist
penetrate my heart.

I live in dreams
Delusions and sensations
And thus, in Buddhist parlance,
Cannot attain enlightenment

Which is fine as long river flows
And kingfishers and mountain mist
Penetrate my heart.
- Heron Dance translation

. . .

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