Mountain Life

Mountain Life 《數椽茅屋青山下》

雙調•蟾宮曲‧自樂 元 孫周卿

草團標正對山凹，山竹炊粳，山水煮茶。
山芋山薯，山蔥山韭，山果山花。
山溜響，冰敲月牙，掃山雲驚散林鴉。
山色元佳，山景堪誇。山外晴霞，山下人家。

【註】草團標 is 茅舍, the grass house, 山凹 means mountain valley,
粳 is a kind of rice, 山溜 portrays 山泉, 冰敲月牙 depicts icy spring
striking the lake reflection of the new moon.

In this 元曲 by 孫周卿, there is a total of 15 “山”, or “M”(mountain).
It shows that he was totally satisfied with his simple mountain life.
He described his life by starting from his "草團標", then all the things
he enjoyed in the mountain, and finally back to his "山下人家".

山竹, 粳, 山水, 茶, 山芋, 山薯, 山蔥, 山韭, 山果 he found in the
mountain fed his body what it needed, and
山花, 山溜, 月牙, 山雲, 林鴉, 山色, 山景 soothed his soul and
refreshed his spirit.

The mountain life is simple and inspiring. It is a soul-satisfying
experience for 孫周卿.

There were some other “山居自樂”poems by 孫周卿:

水仙子‧山居自樂二首

朝吟暮醉兩相宜，花落花開總不知，虛名嚼破無滋味。
比閒人惹是非，淡家私付與山妻。
水碓裏舂來米，山莊上餞了雞，事事休提。

西風籬菊燦秋花，落日楓林噪晚鴉，數椽茅屋青山下。
是山中宰相家，教兒孫自種桑麻。
親眷至煨香芋，賓朋來煮嫩茶，富貴休誇。


Yeh Tze