(idea) by ModernAngel Fri Dec 24 1999 at 21:28:38
Fragment by Wen Yi-duo, 1898 - 1946.

How beautiful are those eyes!
The god of love, two calm ponds of clear water.
O you poor, weak swimmers,
I would advise you to return to the shore.

There are hazel-bushes by the waterside:
How charming those black jade eyebrows!
The nose sloping down like a pyramid
May perhaps be some lover's grave.

And there are the two red door-leaves,
Red as the mellowest cherries.
And inside there is a screen of cowries.
Who knows what kind of snare he is setting?

This may be the paradise of Eden,
A house of beauty or an altar of love?
No, not entirely so -
A bewildered palace haunted by deathly ghosts.
I like it!

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