When must I leave you he asked his teacher
meaning—must I ever? Oh, when you know much
much less. He asked other questions being
answered by a silence so
perfect that the forest sounds dropped
through it. To meditate above the river, that
was easy, but when he came closer, thirst
crouched before him on the bank, and
drank. Then a face was spread out on the
water: bearded and wild, it appeared
to be himself. What is pictured on the river
must flow past, he said, Can I let the
whole thing go? I will stand here trying,
where the forces meet; I will wait here
silent, though roots grow down from my feet.