Letter to Han Jianyi

I’m sick in bed and would like to get out of here. I admire the people in Yueyang and I miss living there. People there wash in water of the immortals and are connected to the whole world. I miss the maple trees turning red in the rain and the wild geese flying over the lake. The immortals fly in on phoenixes and dragons. You can see them in the ripples where the rivers meet. The Big Dipper is drunk on nectar; the moon shines in the mist like hibiscus. I hear that you’ve gone into seclusion, following the immortal Chi Song Zi, the Rain Master. I used to follow chancellor Liu, but, in spite of doing good work, he was demoted. It is difficult to for one man to fix a whole country, or to survive on eating the smell of maple trees. You should live a long time, but it’s not likely that you’ll get to be immortal. At any rate, how can we share a cup of wine when I’m here and you’re over there?