You look so pained
Trained on mine
Seems to be a prayer
Ah! How I pity you
If only it were in my power
To ease your pain’
Ah! If only I had been a Healer!
Of what then are you guilty
Poor dog? What debt then
Do you have to pay, poor beast,
That you must suffer so much
Before giving up your bit of life?
Were you told it was a sin
Those few eggs you secreted away
At the time you suckled puppies?
Might you have a soul to be saved?
And here you are lost now, Fousou.
Where have you gone, you so weak
Where have you gone to die?
Like your wild brother in the woods.
For three days we’ve looked for you
Called you by your name
In a pained voice
No response…Ah! to find your body!
Your poor body afflicted with a long illness
Your box remains to be bleached
Under the Sun-Moon?
Where are you then Fousou
Fousou! my good Fousou!
9/9/1974.
Translated by Lenora Timm