Peach-Blossom Springs--Sequel I

IN the Taiyuan period of the Jin Dynasty, there was a man of Wuling who was a fisherman by trade. One day he was fishing up a stream in his boat, heedless of how far he had gone, when suddenly he came upon a forest of peach trees. On both banks for several hundred yards there were no other kinds of trees. The fragrant grass was delicious and beautiful to look at, all patterned with fallen blossom. The fisherman was extremely surprised and went on further, deter- mined to get to the end of this wood.

He found the end of the wood and the source of the stream together, at the foot of a cliff, and in this cliff there was a small cave in which there seemed to be a faint light. He left his boat and went in through the mouth of the cave. At first it was very narrow, only just wide enough for a man, but after forty or fifty yards he suddenly found himself in the open.

The place he had come to was level and spacious. There were houses and cottages arranged in a planned order; there were fine fields and beautiful pools; there were mulberry trees, bamboo groves, and many other kinds of trees as well; there were raised pathways round the fields; and he heard the sound of chickens and of dogs. Going to and fro in all this, and busied in working and planting, were people, both men and women. Their dress was not unlike that of people outside, but all of them, whether old people with white hair or children with their hair tied in a knot, all were happy and content with themselves.

When they saw the fisherman they were greatly amazed and asked him where he had come from. He answered all their questions, and then they asked him back to their homes, where they put wine before him, killed chickens and prepared food in his honour. When the other people in the village heard about the visitor, they too all came to ask questions.