I
I plucked a peach blossom branch and buried it in the earth. Whenever I missed you, I watered it, hoping that, like the hero of a fairy tale, you would appear before my eyes at the end of a path lined with blooming peach blossoms.
But the peach tree had long since grown tall and graceful, and you still had not appeared.
I miss you so much that longing has made me ill, and no medicine can cure me.
Ke, I admire San Mao and her courage to wander with He Xi across desolate lands at the ends of the earth. Just as much, I hate my own cowardice: faced with reality, my love can only bow its head in submission.
At last, you left me, and I was trapped in a prison of my own making.
The ends of the earth have their limits, but the bright moon has none. I can never find you again.
II
The Czech once said, "J'ailanostalgiedetoi": I cannot bear the pain of you being away from me.
Ke, I spent so many sleepless nights in the company of your faint candlelight. I miss that glow. I miss you.
Ke, you will never know how much I regret not leaving with you back then. But if I could start over, I still wouldn't go with you.
Ke, how could I bear to become the shackles that held you back?
A drop of what people call the blood of the heart fell from my chest onto the peach blossoms. I saw them: the crimson flowers burned like fire, until at last they turned to ash.
Ke, goodbye.
III
Ke, I never met you at the end of the path lined with blooming peach blossoms; I never met you in the flames of the crimson flowers. But in the shadows of the ashes, I saw you. Your gaze was still gentle as you smiled at the woman you favored. "It's her, my disgrace."
