Written in Exile. Liu Tsung-yuan

from Ch’ang-an or his journey. He was either too depressed or too preoccupied with taking care of his mother. She was ill and died the following summer. Although Liu was not imprisoned, his exile came with restrictions on his movements. It was a new experience, and the eagle’s confinement reminded him of his own predicament. The eagle in this case is one that has been raised from a chick and trained to hunt. Such birds are kept in a pen during the summer molting period while their flight feathers are growing out again. (1246)

6. ODE FOR A ONE-FOOTED CROW 跂烏詞

      Dawn lights the walls and all the crows fly

      cawing and fighting over the sunniest branches

      preening their feathers they seem happy

      why are you alone glum today

      did your love of heights lead you too near the sun

      did the three-footed one hurt you out of spite

      or were you hungry and cawing at the roadside

      when someone decided to try a new kind of meat

      my puny-winged one-footed friend in the bushes

      grabbing low branches pulling yourself up with your beak

      looking down in the mud for ants and crickets

      and up at roof beams to guard against swallows

      your wings might be as sharp as knives

      but unable to jump you can’t fly high

      No Toes and Crippled Legs weren’t affected

      try to fly low and you’ll avoid further harm

      城上日出群烏飛，鵶鵶爭赴朝陽枝。刷毛伸翼和且樂，爾獨落魄今何為。

      無乃慕高近白日，三足妬爾令爾疾。無乃飢啼走路旁，貪鮮攫肉人所傷。

      翹肖獨足下叢薄，口銜低枝始能躍。還顧泥塗備螻蟻，仰看棟梁防燕雀。

      左右六翮利如刀，踴身失勢不得高。支離無趾猶自免，努力低飛逃後患。

      NOTE: Written in Yungchou most likely at the end of 805, shortly after Liu arrived. Cutting off the feet was a common punishment for criminals in ancient China. Although exile was hardly the same, Liu identifies with the one-footed crow. According to an ancient myth, a three-footed crow lives on the sun—crows being especially fond of shiny things. In this case, the shiny thing is the emperor, and the light is his grace, over which the black-robed officials fight every morning at court. In the penultimate line, Liu mentions two disabled men who appear in Chuangtzu (5.3 & 5.5) as examples of those who suffered a physical deformity yet were able to rise above it due to their unimpaired moral qualities. Chuang-tzu’s text also includes numerous examples of survival, if not longevity, that resulted from keeping a low profile. (1244)

II. THE BEAR 羆說

      Deer are afraid of wildcats, wildcats are afraid of tigers, and tigers are afraid of bears. Covered with long shaggy hair and able to stand upright, bears possess exceptional strength and are capable of killing people. In the south of Ch’u there once was a hunter who could make all kinds of animal calls with his flute. One day he took his bow and arrows and his firepot into the mountains, and he made a call to attract deer. He waited, and when a deer appeared, he started a fire, then he shot the deer. But when a wildcat heard the deer call, it came too. The hunter was terrified and pretended to be a tiger to frighten it. But when the wildcat ran off, a tiger appeared. The man was even more terrified and pretended to be a bear. The tiger disappeared. But a bear heard the call and came looking for a mate. When it saw the man, it grabbed him and tore him apart and ate him. It turns out that those who rely on external aids instead of developing what they have within themselves invariably end up as bear food.

      鹿畏貙，貙畏虎，虎畏熊。熊之狀，被髮人立，絕有力甚害人焉。楚之南有獵者，能吹竹為百獸之音。嘗云持弓矢罌火而即之山，為鹿鳴以感其類。伺其至，發火而射之。貙聞其鹿也，貙而之。其人恐，因爲虎而駭之。貙走而虎至，愈恐，則又為熊，亦亡去。熊聞而求其類，至則人，捽搏挽裂而食之。今夫不善內而恃外者，未有不為熊之食也。

      NOTE: The ancient kingdom of Ch’u 楚 included the region to which Liu was exiled. The firepot referred to here was an oil lamp and was used to start fires to drive animals toward hunters. (467)

7. THE FIRST PLUM FLOWERS 早梅

      Plum flowers appear first on the taller trees

      shining in the distance against the blue southern sky

      the North Wind diffuses their scent at night

      heavy frost at dawn adds to their white

      I wish I could send them a thousand miles

      but with so many mountains and rivers in between

      these wintertime blossoms would surely fade

      how could they console a distant friend

      早梅發高樹，迥映楚天碧。朔吹飄夜香，繁霜滋曉白。

      欲為萬里贈，杳杳山水隔。寒英坐銷落，何用慰遠客。

      NOTE: Written in Yungchou in the first month of 806. The last four lines reprise a poem by Lu K’ai 陸凱 (198–269): “Meeting a courier I broke off a branch / I’m sending it to a friend on the northern border / finding nothing else south of the Yangtze / this branch of spring will have to do.” 折花逢驛使，寄與隴頭人。江南無所有，聊贈一枝春. Liu was an incurable realist, not a romantic. (1233)

8. THINKING OF MY OLD GARDEN IN SPRING 春懷故園

      The sound of bureau birds is late

      it’s time for spring farmwork in Ch’u

      I keep thinking of the water in my old pond

      waiting for someone to irrigate the garden

      九扈鳴已晚，楚鄉農事春。悠悠故池水，空待灌園人。

      NOTE: Written in Yungchou at the beginning of 806. Newly arrived at his place of exile, Liu still expects to return to Ch’ang-an and thinks back to where he grew up as a boy southwest of the capital along the Feng River. Originally the term “bureau birds” referred to an ancient division of government into nine bureaus, each named for a different bird and in charge of overseeing a different aspect of the agricultural calendar. Here, in the domain of the ancient state of Ch’u, the local bureaucrats are sleeping late. Living in exile and serving as a deputy magistrate with no responsibilities or authority, Liu not only can’t assist the farmers in Yungchou, his talents are ignored by those empowered to do so. (1264)

9. MEETING A FARMER AT THE START OF SPRING 首春逢耕者

      Spring arrives early in southern Ch’u

      things start to grow while it’s cold

      the power of the earth is loose in the land

      hibernating creatures are stirring

      there’s