Wait, traveller
In this invisible fountain
Before you wet your tongue
Think, traveller of life
You also ooze out of the rocks
Only a water sprite
The thinking water does not flow forever
It dries in a moment of eternal time
Ah, a noisy jay
Sometimes from this water
A phantom man comes out holding up a flower
Seeking an eternal life is a dream
The murmuring stream of life flows away
Abandoning thought at last
Falling over the eternal cliff
Dreaming of disappearance
Are the words of a phantom, a water imp
Coming out of the water to the village and to the town
At the time of glowing waterweeds in the shadow of
Floating clouds

-- Nishiwaki Junzaburo