I once encountered a roving artist who said to me,

"I'm warning you, stranger, take this rattan staff,"

And he showed me his warped and knotty cane,

"Just as a mate. Remember, there's time to move

And time to stand still, but your mate has always

Rest is rest, but never bustle about in any event!

My cane is able to turn into a soaring snake that

Can swallow up the River of Galaxy in one gulp.

May I ask you where all these jaggy mountains

And rapid streams, the vast dales and great vales

Can be seeing now? One venerable master from

Gandharu one day occurred to transform himself

Into a cane and, by striking on the ground once,

Made all those innumerable gurus and preachers

The ways of achieving Enlightenment by means

Of self-reliance and ascetic life on top of a pillar,

Ignoring all what's going on in the lower regions."