When people look for the road in the clouds
The cloud road disappears
The mountains are tall and steep
The streams are wide and still
Green mountains ahead and behind
White clouds to east and west
If you want to find the cloud road
Seek it within
***
The higher the trail the steeper it grows
Ten thousand tiers of dangerous cliffs
The stone bridge is slippery with green moss
Cloud after cloud keeps flying by
Waterfalls hang like ribbons of silk
The moon shines down on a bright pool
I climb the highest peak once more
To wait where the lone crane flies
***
Old and sick, more than one hundred years
Face haggard, hair white, I’m happy to still live in the mountains
A cloth covered phantom watching the years flow by
Why envy people with clever ways of living?
~ Han Shan
