Mottled Bambooby Yuan ZhenMottled bamboo glides past my boat along the Xiangshui and Yuanshui,Evoking my yearning for home, a thousand miles away.-- The pole from the temple to the consorts of Lord ShunComes with the ladies' tearstains on it all the way, through wind and rain.The poet Yuan Zhen...

One summer, a long, long time ago, the folk of Melbustad went up to the hill pastures with their herd. But they had been there only a short time when the cattle began to grow so restless that it was impossible to keep them in order. A number of different maidens tried to manage them, but without ava...

New Bamboo Shootby Wei YingwuShaking off its sheath of green,The tender shoot exudes sweetness.Its leaves spreading under the dew;Its twigs from buds ever mature,At the pavilion this morn I stopped to gaze,With tender love at this plant hiding in shade.The poet Wei Yingwu (737-792), self-indulgent i...

Once upon a time there was a village shop. The name over the window was “Ginger and Pickles.”It was a little small shop just the right size for Dolls—Lucinda and Jane Doll-cook always bought their groceries at Ginger and Pickles.The counter inside was a convenient height for rabbits. Ginger and P...

Newly Planted Bambooby Wei ZhuangIn loneliness I watch this gentleman' before my house here.I compose a poem and chant it strolling by the balustrade in tears there.Wandering far from home, I have no friends,Yet the bamboo grove treats me like a host.“This gentleman” may refer to an anecdote a...

A party of visitors had been seeing the sights at Hsi Ling. They had just passed down the Holy Way between the huge stone animals when Bamboo, a little boy of twelve, son of a keeper, rushed out from his father’s house to see the mandarins go by. Such a parade of great men he had never seen before,...