Saturday, December 13, 2003

Contentment with poverty is fortune's best gift

Riches and Honour are the handmaids of Disaster



"A Gentle Wind"

A gentle wind fans the calm night;
A bright moon shines on the high tower.
A voice whispers, but no one answers when I call:
A shadow stirs, but no one comes when I beckon.
The kitchen man brings in a dish of lentils:
Wine is there, but I do not fill my cup.
Contentment with poverty is fortune's best gift:
Riches and Honour are the handmaids of Disaster.
Though gold and gems by the world are sought and prized,
To me they seem no more than weeds or chaff.

~Fu Hsuan translated by Arthur Waley


See Jude's excellent illustration of this great poem at Iddybud.