1. . UNDISCIPLINED

With his horns fiercely projected in the air the beast snorts,
Madly running over the mountain paths,
farther and farther he goes astray!
A dark cloud is spread across the entrance of the valley,
And who knows how much of the fine fresh herb is trampled
under his wild hoofs!

2. DISCIPLINE BEGUN

I am in possession of a straw rope, and I pass it through his nose,
For once he makes a frantic attempt to run away,
but he is severely whipped and whipped;
The beast resists the training with all the power
there is in a nature wild and ungoverned,
But the rustic oxherd never relaxes his pulling tether
and ever-ready whip.

3. IN HARNESS

Gradually getting into harness the beast is now content
to be led by the nose,
Crossing the stream, walking along the mountain path,
he follows every step of the leader;
The leader holds the rope tightly in his hand
never letting it go,
All day long he is on the alert almost unconscious of
what fatigue is.

4. FACED ROUND

After long days of training the result begins to tell and
the beast is faced round,
A nature so wild and ungoverned is finally broken,
he has become gentler;
But the tender has not yet given him his full confidence,
He still keeps his straw rope with which the ox is now
tied to a tree.

5. TAMED

Under the green willow tree and
by the ancient mountain stream,
The ox is set at liberty to pursue his own pleasures;
At the eventide when a grey mist descends on the pasture,
The boy wends his homeward way
with the animal quietly following.

6. UNIMPEDED

On the verdant field the beast contentedly lies
idling his time away,
No whip is needed now, nor any kind of restraint;
The boy too sits leisurely under the pine tree,
Playing a tune of peace, overflowing with joy.

7. LAISSEZ FAIRE

The spring stream in the evening sun flows languidly
along the willow-lined bank,
In the hazy atmosphere the meadow grass is seen
growing thick;
When hungry he grazes, when thirsty he quaffs,
as time sweetly slides,
While the boy on the rock dozes for hours
not noticing anything that goes on about him.

8. ALL FORGOTTEN

The beast all in white now is surrounded by the white clouds,
The man is perfectly at his ease and care-free,
so is his companion;
The white clouds penetrated by the moon-light
cast their white shadows below,
The white clouds and the bright moon-light
– each following its course of movement.

9. THE SOLITARY MOON

Nowhere is the beast, and the oxherd is master of his time,
He is a solitary cloud wafting lightly along the mountain peaks;
Clapping his hands he sings joyfully in the moon-light,
But remember a last wall is still left
barring his homeward walk.

10. BOTH VANISHED

Both the man and the animal have disappeared, no traces are left,
The bright moon-light is emty and shadowless
With all the ten-thousand objects in it;
If anyone should ask the meaning of this,
Behold the lilies of the field and
its fresh sweet-scented verdure.

 oOo