The lake that takes you out of this world

The Wang River collection (10)

Lakeside South Mound 
Wang Wei

Our skiff leaves Southern Mound on wide, wide waters; 
The north end comes no closer, fixed and far. 
Up past the shore, we see some living quarters, 
So distant we've no notion whose they are.

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Pei Di's poem at the same site (prose translation):

Lonely boat floating freely, the edge of the lake at Southern Mound. The setting sun passes into Mt Yanzi; the clear waves form a vast expanse.

In myth, the sun passed behind Mt Yanzi when it set.

Both Pei and Wang see the lake as a mysterious place. For Pei, it extends to the mountain at the end of the world. For Wang, it distorts space: as they move away from one shore, the opposite shore does not seem to get closer; and when they see signs of earthly life (probably Wang’s own house), they seem so distant as to be unrecognisable.

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南岔

轻舟南岔去，北岔淼难即。

隔浦望人家，遥遥不相识。