Nature & World Sayings

The birds have vanished into the sky, and now the last cloud drains away.

I wake with the moon on my pillow—it’s frost, I suppose.

The moon follows me like an old friend.

In this country, there is a kind of tree that produces cotton, and it is so plentiful that they make all their clothes from it.

They have a kind of black stone, which they dig out of the mountains, and it burns like wood, and it gives a great heat.

And in this country, they have a kind of animal that is like a lion, but it has a horn on its forehead, and it is very fierce.

They have a kind of tree that produces milk, and it is so sweet that it tastes like honey.

They have a kind of tree that produces a fruit that is like a pear, but it is much larger, and it has a very sweet taste.

They have a kind of animal that is like a horse, but it has a horn on its forehead, and it is very swift.

They have a kind of tree that produces a spice that is so strong that it can make a man sneeze for an hour.

They have a kind of animal that is like a cat, but it is much larger, and it has a very beautiful fur.

And in this country, they have a custom that when a man has a child, he gives the child a name that is taken from a flower or a tree.

There is also a sort of black stone, which is dug from the mountains and burns like wood.

They have a custom that when a man dies, they burn his body, and then they gather his ashes and mix them with water, and drink them. And they say that by doing this, they will be reunited with their loved ones in the next life.

The sound of the wind is the only thing that listens to my sorrow.

With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow, And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow; And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd—'I came like Water, and like Wind I go.'

Into this Universe, and why not knowing, Nor whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing: And out of it, as Wind along the Waste, I know not whither, willy-nilly blowing.

Up from Earth's Centre through the Seventh Gate I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn sate, And many a Knot unravel'd by the Road; But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.

Earth, Air, and Water, and the living Fire, And the two Worlds, and all that they desire, Are but the Forms of one—and that one still The shadow of a Shadow, and a Lie.

Let none of your possessions detain you, no solicitude for your family affairs, since this land which you inhabit is everywhere shut in by the sea and surrounded by mountain peaks.