沈周《枇杷》“Loquats” by Shen Zhou (1427-1509)

誰鑄黃金三百丸，

彈胎微濕露漙漙。

從今抵鵲何消玉，

更有餳漿沁齒寒。

Who forged these three hundred beads of gold?

The round pellets are lightly damp with dense dewdrops.

From now on, there’s no need to ward off magpies with jade,[1]

[These beads] even come with syrup that drenches teeth in freshness.

* From Chen Menglei 陳夢雷 (1650-1741) ed., Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 (Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, 1934), vol. 553, "Bowu huibian" 博物彙編, "Caomudian" 草木典, 278.9. 

[1] Alluding to an old story that locals near the jade mines would drive away unwelcome birds by throwing jade pieces at them because they had these precious stones in surplus.

First-ever loquat harvest in my garden