皮日休《鹿亭》 "Deer Pavilion" by Pi Rixiu (834-883?)

鹿羣多此住，

因構白雲楣。

待侶傍花久，

引麛穿竹遲。

經時掊玉澗，

盡日嗅金芝。

爲在石窗下，

成仙自不知。

Here, where deer herds like to make their home,

Crossbeams have been raised beneath white clouds.

Awaiting its mate, [a deer] lingers by the flowers;

Leading its fawn, [another] takes its time through the bamboo.

[They] while away the hours drawing from jade brooks,

And spend the whole day nosing among golden mushrooms.

Down [the pavilion’s] rocky windows such a life is lived

That one becomes an immortal without knowing it.

* From Pi Rixiu, Lu Guimeng 陸龜蒙 (d. ca. 881), et al., Songlingji jiaozhu 松陵集校注 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2018), annotated by Wang Xijiu 王錫九, 5.969.

 Two roe deer playing in the field

 “Lulin qinghua” 鹿林清話, hanging scroll by an anonymous artist from the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)

Image credit: National Palace Museum, Taipei

元人畫鹿林清話　軸。國立故宮博物院，台北，CC BY 4.0 @ www.npm.gov.tw