Chapter 3 3

31 "Prisoner, tell me, who tied you up?" "It is my master," said the prisoner. "I thought I was richer and more powerful than any man in the world, and I gathered my king's money in my own treasury. I was so sleepy that I slept on my lord's bed, and when I awoke I found that I was I'm a prisoner in my own treasury." "Prisoner, tell me, who made this strong chain?" "It is I," said the prisoner, "that I have forged with my own heart. I thought that my invincible power would conquer the world and give me unhindered freedom. I forged this chain day and night with fiery hammers. Wait until the work Done, the chain is firm and perfect, and I find that it binds me."

32 Those who love me in this world try their best to hold me back.Your love is not like that, your love is much greater than theirs, you set me free. They never dared to leave me lest I forget them.But you, the days go by and you haven't shown up yet. If I do not call you in prayer, if I do not keep you in my heart, your love for me still waits for my love. 33 During the day, they came to my house and said, "We only occupy the smallest room." They said, "We will help you to worship your God, and humbly receive only our share of grace"; and they sat down quietly and meekly in the corner.

But in the night I found them storming my sanctuary violently, greedily taking the sacrifices from the altar. 34 As long as I'm alive, I'll call you my everything. As long as my sincerity is immortal, I will feel you are around me, I will come to ask you for advice on anything, and I will dedicate my love to you at any time. As long as I live, I will hide you forever. Only a little bit of the shackles that bind me to your will remain, and your will is done in my life—and that shackle is your love. 35 Where the heart is fearless and the head is held high; where knowledge is free; where the world is not yet divided into fragments by narrow walls of home and country; Out; where unremitting efforts reach out to "perfection"; where the clear spring of reason is not sunk in the desert of accumulated habits; where the heart is guided by you to the ever-relaxing thoughts and actions-- Into the heaven of freedom, my father, let my country wake up.

36 This is my prayer to you, my Lord - to eradicate, eradicate the root of my poverty. Give me the strength to bear joy and sorrow with ease. Give me the strength to make my love bear fruit in service. Give me the strength to never forsake the poor and never bow the knee to tyranny. Give me the strength to lift my mind above the daily routine. Give me the strength to submit my strength lovingly to the command of your will. 37 I thought my energies were exhausted, my journey was over--the road was gone, my stores were exhausted, and the time had come for me to retire into the silence.

But I find that your will has no end in me.As soon as the old words die on the tip of the tongue, new music bursts out from the heart; the old track is lost, and the new field unfolds wonderfully in front of us. 38 I need you and only you - makes my heart keep repeating the words.All the desires that tempt me day and night are utterly false and empty. Just as the night hides in the obscurity that begs for the light, there is also a voice in the depths of my subconscious - I need you and only you. Just as the storm strikes at peace with all its might and seeks to end in peace, so my rebellion strikes at your love, and its cry is still - I need you and only you.

39 When my heart is hard and anxious, please shower me with kindness. When life loses grace, please give me a song of joy. When the turmoil of busy work surrounds me and cuts me off from the outside world, come, my serene Lord, with your peace and rest. When my heart like a beggar is squatting in the corner of the house, my king, please break in with the majesty of a king. When lust blinds my mind with temptation and dust, O Holy One, you are awake, please come with your thunder and lightning. 40 It's been days without rain on my parched heart, my God.The horizon is terrible naked—

—There is no cover of light clouds, no coolness of distant rain. If you will, send down the storm of your black fury, and strike the heavens with lightning. But recall, my lord, recall this pervasive, silent heat, heavy and sharp and cruel, burning the heart with dreadful despair. Let the kindness cloud hang down, like the tearful eyes of the mother when the father is angry. 41 My love, where are you standing behind everyone in the shadow?On the dusty road they push you past and ignore you.In the weary hours, I waited for you with my presents, and the passers-by took my fragrant flowers one by one, and my flower basket was almost empty.

Morning and noon passed.In the twilight, I am tired and blind.People coming home look at me and smile, filling me with shame.I sat like a beggar woman, pulled up my skirt to cover my face, and when they asked me what I wanted, I lowered my eyes and said nothing. Oh, really, how can I tell them I'm waiting for you, and you promised you'd come.How can I be ashamed to say that my dowry is poverty. Oh, I hold this piece of pride in the recesses of my heart. I sit on the grass and stare at the sky, dreaming of the sudden splendor of your arrival—the brilliance of all colors, the golden flags flying on the chariot, and you descending from the seat in full view from the roadside, and you lift me from the dust Stand up and sit next to you, this ragged beggar girl, shy and joyful, trembles like a vine in a storm.

But time passed without the sound of your chariot wheels.Many guards of honor passed by amidst the noise and glory. Do you just stand silently behind them? Shall I just weep and wait, tormenting my heart in empty waiting? 42 In Qingxiao's secret language, we agreed to go boating together, and no one in the world knew about our aimless and endless travel. On the boundless ocean, in your listening smile, my singing is in tune, as free as the waves of the sea, unbound by words. Is it not time yet?Do you still have work to do?Look, the twilight has covered the coast, and the seabirds have flown back to their nests in the vast expanse.

Who knows when the chains will be untied, and the ship will dissolve into the night like the afterglow of the setting sun? 43 I was not ready to wait for you that day, my king, you entered my heart automatically like a stranger who has never met, and stamped the imprint of eternal life in the many passing hours of my life. Today I happened to see your signature, and I found them scattered in the dust along with the memories of my forgotten daily sorrows and joys. Thou shalt not contemptuously from my childhood games in the dust, the footsteps I hear in the playroom are the same as they echo among the stars.

44 The weather is uncertain, and when the summer solstice rains, it is my happiness to wait and watch by the roadside. Messengers who brought messages from the unknowable sky greeted me and went on their way. I am sincerely happy, and the wind that blows has a fragrance. From morning to night I sit on the floor in front of the door, knowing that when I see you, the happy hour will come suddenly. At this time, I sang and laughed to myself.At this time, too, the air was filled with the fragrance of promise. 45 Did you not hear his quiet steps?He's coming, coming, going on and on. Every time, every age, every day and every night, he always comes, comes, keeps coming. I've sung many songs in many different moods, but in these tunes I always proclaim, "He's coming, coming, coming on and on." On a fragrant day in April, he came, came, and kept coming from the forest path. In the dark rainy night in July, he sat on a rumbling cloud chariot, coming, coming, and coming non-stop. In the midst of melancholy, it is his steps that step on my heart, and the golden touch of his feet makes my joy shine.