Selected Stories of the Poet Immortal Li Bai (I)

In his later years, Li Bai was very unpromising politically, and he traveled with sadness to Xuancheng, Nanling, Shexian (in Anhui Province) and Caishi, writing poems and drinking wine, and wandering around famous mountains and rivers.

One morning, as usual, Li Bai was buying wine at a hotel in She County when he heard someone in the firewood store next door asking, "Old man, you are so old, how can you pick so much firewood, where does your family live?"

The answer was a loud, hearty laugh. Then, someone chanted a poem.

"I am betraying my salary, and I am returning to the west on the day of selling wine.

Where is my home? Through the clouds into the cuiwei!"

When Li Bai heard this, he was startled. Who was this? Who was this? He asked the bartender, who told him: This is an old man named Xu Xuanping, who hates the government and sees through the world, and lives in the mountains, but no one knows which mountain he lives in. Recently, he often traveled to this area, and every day at dawn, he was seen picking firewood into town, with a flower scoop and a bamboo stick hanging on the firewood stretcher. When he sold the firewood, he drank wine, and when he got drunk, he recited poems, and people who passed by thought he was crazy.

Li Bai thought to himself, "Isn't he a poet like himself? He immediately turned around and went out, only to see the old man on the street bridge, although his steps are difficult, but Li Bai no matter how to catch up.

After catching up with the old man on the bridge, passing through the bamboo forest and bypassing the river, Li Bai was so tired and panting that his back was sore and his legs were aching. Li Bai sighed long and hard, "Could it be that I have really met an immortal?"

He lifted up his robe and rushed another ride, but the old man was still missing, so he came back disappointed.

That night, Li Bai couldn't sleep, recalling that he hadn't made many real poetry friends except Du Fu for most of his life. I never thought I would meet such a poet today, so I couldn't miss the opportunity to find him!

The next day, Li Bai waited until sunset at the entrance of the cedar house, but there was no sign of the old man.

On the third day, the fourth day, the old man was nowhere to be found.

Early in the morning of the fifth day, Li Bai picked up his wine jug and went on his way with dry food. He made up his mind that if he could not find the old man, he would die here in the mountains and forests.

Over the seat full of wild flowers of the hill, trip through the swift stream, set aside the bush thorns, a whole month, or no old man's shadow. Li Bai was a little discouraged. At this time, he recalled the grandmother who used to sharpen needles with a mortar and pestle when he was a teenager, who said well, "If you have determination, a mortar and pestle will become a needle." In order to find the old man, it depends on whether he has the perseverance. Thinking of this, Li Bai tightened his belt, gritted his teeth, and went forward. Tired, lying on the rocks to sleep for a while; hungry, pick a handful of wild fruits to fill the hunger; wine addiction, holding a jug of wine to drink a beautiful sip.

This day at dusk, the evening sun dyed the sky red red, clear water and bamboo as a backdrop to each other, looks very beautiful. Li Bai was so preoccupied with the old man that he didn't care to enjoy the scenery. He dragged his tired body and limped to the bottom of Ziyang Mountain near Huangshan Mountain. Turning around the mountain pass, he saw a huge stone standing in front of him, which seemed to have words carved on it. Forgetting his fatigue, Li Bai jumped on it and carefully identified it.

"Thirty years of seclusion, building a room at the top of the South Mountain.

At night, playing with the bright moon, leisurely morning drink blue spring.

The woodcutter sings on the monopoly, the birds play in front of the rock.

I do not know how old I am when I am happy, I forget the year of the first year."

Reading it three times in a row, Li Bai exclaimed, "Wonderful! Wonderful! What an immortal's voice!" He thought: When I see the old man, I must pay him three obeisances and ask him for advice. Although he had been dealing with poetry for decades, this was the first time he had ever experienced a poem that smelled like wildflowers.

He turned around and saw a pile of rice spread out on the flat ground by the cliff, which seemed to be sun-dried by Xu Xuanping. Li Bai simply squatted on the edge, enjoying the view of the mountain while waiting for the old man to collect the grain.

When it was dark, Li Bai suddenly heard a burst of water from the bottom of the mountain, and looked at the sound, only to see a small boat rowed across the river below the mountain, an old man with flowing hair standing in the bow of the boat to get oars. Li Bai went forward and asked, "Old man, may I ask, where is Xu Xuanping's home?"

It turned out that this old man was the old man Xu Xuanping whom Li Bai was looking for. Last time he saw Li Bai wearing the imperial robe, he thought he was sent by the government to find him to be an official again, so he was reluctant to go to She County City. Unexpectedly, this person followed and came. At this time, the old man glanced at Li Bai, casually pointed to the boat hedge and replied carelessly, "A bamboo pole at the door is Xu Weng's house!"

Li Bai raised his eyes to the lush mountains and asked, "There are green bamboos everywhere, where can I find them?"

The old man re-examined the dusty, sweaty guest and asked in return, "You are ......"

"I am Li Bai." Said the man, with a deep bow.

The old man froze: "You are Li Bai? Li Bai is you?"

Li Bai hurriedly explained his intention.

Upon hearing this, the old man arched his hands: "Aiya, you are the poet immortal of today! I am nothing but a drop of water in the sea of poetry. How can you come to ask a drop of water for advice? After saying that, he picked up the boat and wanted to go back.

Li Bai pulled the old man's sleeve and begged, "Old man, it's been three months, I've been looking for you everywhere, and it's so hard to meet my teacher.

Li Bai's sincere words touched the old man's heart. The two looked at each other for a long time, the old man fiercely pulled Li Bai and jumped on the boat.

From then on, Li Bai and the old man were often seen drinking and reciting poems on the big boulders by the stream, whether in the morning sun or in the afterglow of the setting sun. The loud laughter, and the clamor of the waterfall merged into one, with the stream sent to hundreds of miles and thousands of miles away ......

To this day, many visitors to Huangshan, always love to follow the murmur of the stream, to track down Li Bai's travels.

See? The legend says that Li Bai and the old man were here to enjoy the mountain scenery, drink wine and recite poems. They often used the spring next to them to wash their glasses, so the spring is called "Cup Washing Spring".