By temperament
I'm very free and easygoing
and living close to nature
truly suits me best
wine pleases me, and watching
the wind in the bamboos
I like to live near a forest
and never far from a spring
war and disorder washed me up
on the riverside in Shu
a good place to recuperate
from my long travel sickness
At first we only cleared
a little patch of weeds
then gradually we used
more and more ground
started building the cottage
over two years ago
kept on making additions
right up to this year
I didn't dare
build something elegant
but we had a firm foundation
and a very splendid setting
pavilions and small terraces
shaped to the land's contours
everything open and spacious
and right there next to the river
good friends
were living all around us
we used to go out
in fishing boats on the river
but because there was a war
we seldom made music and we slept lightly
like a dragon that never
settles in one place
or a brown crane
that wings into the sky
from ancient days
the wisest men
have never let conditions
affect their basic freedom
but I'm not much like them
I'm unwise and shortsighted
I couldn't quite foresee
the blind that we got into
Now I have to take away
my wife and children
once more we're all exposed
to wind and drifting mist
and while this may be something
we don't really have to do
I must think about my name
and how best to protect it
well, now I'm starting to worry
about my four small pines
what if the weeds
grow up and smother them?
they aren't yet sturdy enough
to mangage on their own
maybe the neighbors
will look after them?