A fisherman’s taking his boat deep across the lake.
My old eyes trace his path all the way, his precise
wavering in and out of view. Then it gets strange:
suddenly he’s a lone goose balanced on a bent reed.
translated by David Hinton
fisherman
Fisherman by Liu Zongyuan
A fisherman spends the night under West Rock,
pails clear river water and burns bamboo.
Smokes vanishes, sun rises, and no one is seen.
The swishing oar turns mountains and water green.
Floating the central current, he turns to gaze at the sky
above rock where mindless clouds chase each other.
translated by Tony Barnstone & Chou Ping
An Old Fisherman by Kim Kuk-ki
Heaven has never been generous to the old fisherman
and seldom sent fair weather to the rivers and lakes.
Don’t laugh, old fisherman, at the rough human world:
you chose to put yourself among eddies and rapids.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
Leonard Durso 