He Also Does a Great Tao Te Ching

The Seattle Times sends a reporter out to talk with Bill Porter, who's been translating ancient Chinese poetry, published under the name Red Pine, ever since he dropped out of grad school in the 1970s and moved to a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. His latest, Poems of the Masters, is the first full English translation of an anthology that has served as a standard bearer in China for nearly a millennium. (Take that, Norton!)

"I translate just like a ball player plays ball," Porter said. "I look at it as fun and a performance, and I feel physically involved with it when I do it. It's like dancing with words."

Here's his version of Kao Shih's "To Chang Hsu after Drinking":

The world is full of fickle people
you old friend aren't one
inspired you write like a god
drunk you're crazier still
enjoying white hair and idle days
blue clouds now rise before you
how many times will you still sleep
with a jug of wine by your bed