老猴子 The Old Monkey
长生路，人无数。
求道不求真，渡人难自渡。
休问功果几时成，虚空相里有还无。
Countless souls pursue the immortal quest,
Seeking the Dao, but truth is not addressed.
The ferry itself will never be ashore,
Ask not when fruits will ripen, in the void they fade evermore.
有人说，他是观音苦萨。
有人说，他是菩提祖师。
也有人说，他才是孙悟空。
还有人说，他不过是山中的一只无名老猴。
他总是用一样的姿势，说着一样的开场白。
有时，山顶上空无一人。
有时，山顶上熙熙攘攘。
当天命人上路时，他会亲手为他们打一根柳木棍。
折柳相送，心中竟生出一些不舍。
天庭的神仙说，他在赌。
灵山的佛祖说，赌，就难免会输。
他说，他没有赌，也没有输。
他只是在等天命人回来，和他讲讲路上的故事。
而他从未听过，两个完全相同的故事。
Some say he is Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Some say he is Patriarch Bodhi.
Some say he is Sun Wukong himself.
Others say he is just an unnamed old monkey in the mountains.
With the same posture, he always starts with the same line.
Sometimes, the mountaintop is empty and silent.
Sometimes, the summit is bustling with monkey cries.
Whenever a Destined One sets out on their journey, he gifts them with a handmade willow staff.
As he breaks off the willow branch to send them off, he feels a twinge of reluctance in his heart.
The Immortals of the Celestial Court say he is gambling.
The Buddha on Mount Lingshan says that gambling inevitably leads to loss.
He says he neither gambles nor loses.
He is just waiting for the stories the Destined Ones will tell him upon their return.
And he has never heard two identical stories.
