Sent to a Taoist Priest in the Quanjiao Mountains (Wei Yingwu: Sent to a Taoist Priest in the Quanjiao Mountains)

This morning in the prefectural study it is very cold, and suddenly I think of my friend in the mountains.

At the foot of the mountain stream he gathers firewood, returning to boil white stones (the diet of Taoist adepts).

I want to take a gourd of wine and offer my distant consolation to you on this night of wind and rain.

Fallen leaves cover the empty, desolate hills—where can I go to find your tracks?