If you find a white horse, you will be elevated.
If in a bowl of water a blue lotus appears to you,
your reign will be long. If the day is bitter cold
and you can still love, you will have many sons
and many daughters. If you wake to a sky
in another place and there is a bridge over silver water,
a spell has been cast upon you. If, however,
you see bluebirds, it is a message from the goddesses
that the spell has been thwarted.
A white-headed crow is always a bad omen.
Celebrate the ninth day of the ninth moon
and the third day of the third moon, autumn and spring,
to insure prosperity. Remember the morning glory
opens with the sun and fades with the day.
White butterflies turn yellow in winter.
Do not live by the waters of the Huang Ho. Weigh the facts
but heed the texture of someone’s testaments.
Even a mute knows the ten thousand words.
Truth can be found in the eyes and in the hands.