According to some, a Chinese man in the 13th century was contemplating on taking up with a mistress. Because the love for his wife had grown old, he wrote a letter to explain his decision. This poem was what he received in return. The title of the poem is 'Married Love", written by Kuan Tao-Sheng. Some view the translation as follows:
You and I have so much love,
It burns like fire in which we bake a lump of clay
molded into a figure of you
and a figure of me.
Then we take both of them
and break them into pieces.
We mix the pieces with water
and mold again a figure of you and a figure of me.
I am in your clay.
You are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt,
In death we will share one grave.
Because of her poem, the man decided not to take up with the mistress but to be content. He looked on his wife with with their past to find that none could fill the place by his side better than the woman he had already known and been with for so long.
To me, this is a story of love.
You and I have so much love,
It burns like fire in which we bake a lump of clay
molded into a figure of you
and a figure of me.
Then we take both of them
and break them into pieces.
We mix the pieces with water
and mold again a figure of you and a figure of me.
I am in your clay.
You are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt,
In death we will share one grave.
Because of her poem, the man decided not to take up with the mistress but to be content. He looked on his wife with with their past to find that none could fill the place by his side better than the woman he had already known and been with for so long.
To me, this is a story of love.
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