撫州曹山本寂禪師語錄 1.77

1.77

Zhong Kuangfan, King of Nanping and military governor of Nanzhou, heard that the Master possessed the Way and invited him with full courtesy. The Master did not go, but only wrote a verse and gave it to the messenger, which said: / 'A ravaged, withered tree leans against the cold forest; / Meeting spring how many times, its heart does not change. / Seeing it, the woodcutter does not even gather it; / For what reason do the men of Ying search so painfully?' / (Lord Zhong could not persuade him to come, but [the Master] only wrote Damei's verse on living in the mountains to reply to him.)