The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai by Jin Ha

Author:Jin, Ha [Jin, Ha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: poetry, Biography, History
ISBN: 9781524747411
Amazon: 1524747416
Goodreads: 39951938
Publisher: Pantheon
Published: 2019-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

The poem outraged many local Confucianists, who regarded themselves as capable men, truly learned and virtuous. Their outcries were so persistent and overbearing that Li Bai was forced to withdraw for a time. He retreated to an area near Julai Mountain and mingled with a circle of local literary figures there. These men were all noted for being reclusive, refusing to serve in office and secluding themselves in the wilderness. Soon Bai and five other men gained the name “Six Hermits of the Bamboo Creek.” Together they drank, played chess and musical instruments, and chanted poems on the mountain. Bai enjoyed their company and admired their life, detached from worldly strife.

Occasionally he still went to the local government to see if he might procure a post. Most officials either ignored him or paid lip service to his request. Only a petty official in Zhongdu, a small county, treated him with respect. They met for the first time one afternoon when the young man saw Li Bai sitting outside an eatery. He approached the poet, greeting Bai with a deep bow. Bai didn’t know the man, who bowed again, saying he had been waiting to meet him for a long while. He placed a pair of live fish, apparently just bought from a vendor nearby, and a jar of wine on the corner of the table and introduced himself as Feng Seven, a devoted fan of Bai’s poetry. He wanted to treat the poet to a meal because he had known Li Bai for many years, he claimed. Surprised, Bai could not recall where they had met. Feng Seven explained that he had cherished Bai’s poems for so long and knew them so well that it was as if he had been with the poet himself all these years. Delightedly Bai accepted his gift of fish and wine; they had the fish cooked at the eatery and together they regaled themselves.

Feng Seven asked Li Bai a favor—to write a poem for him. Already tipsy, Bai wielded a brush and dashed off these lines:

魯酒若琥珀    汶魚紫錦鱗

山東豪吏有俊氣 手攜此物贈遠人

意氣相傾兩相顧 斗酒雙魚表情素

雙鰓呀呷鰭鬣張 蹳剌銀盤欲飛去

呼兒拂幾霜刃揮 紅肌花落白雪霏

為君下箸一餐飽 醉著金鞍上馬歸

《酬中都小吏攜斗酒雙魚于逆旅見贈》

The wine in Lu has the color of amber

And the fish from the Wen have purple scales.

The official of Shandong is truly gallant,

Carrying these gifts over to entertain me.

The friendship is mutual and

We open the jar of wine and clean the fish

Whose gills still open and close noisily，

Making the plate jump about.

We call the waiter to come with a knife—

One stroke reveals the red fat and white flesh.

Let us eat and drink to our fill

Then leap into the saddles and head home.

“IN RETURN FOR A SMALL OFFICIAL IN ZHONGDU, WHO BROUGHT ALONG A JAR OF WINE AND A PAIR OF FISH TO WINE AND DINE ME ON THE ROADSIDE”

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