Row row row. no no. Way down upon the Swanee. no no. Jolson aside.
Okay. Merrily merrily. no no no no. Can’t seem to get it right. Let’s
start again. Once upon a time there was the largest river in China
called the Yangtze and up and down that river boats coursed, sails
outspread, while the men on board with poles in hand used might and
main to steer her straight while the wind blew strong.
Ah. That’s better. Don’t you think?
Okay. Let us now expand the picture a tad. shall we? Let us create
our concept. Roiling nephrite waters grasp the bow while our green
white ship plows along nephrite waves. A crew of five nephritic
sailors man the boat. One at the bow. Two with oars. One at the
tiller. And one controls the mainsail.
I digress here a tad. I ain’t no sailor and know very little about
sailing. other than the fact the boat floats and the wind moves it
and if there’s no wind then you gotta row or use a motor. So now
here’s the thing of it. I’ve got this boat. and it’s riding upon a
turbulent sea. crew at the ready. fishing basket on board. probably
in anticipation of catching quartz or lapis lazuli mackerel. A
lantern and flag hang from the top of the mast. the lantern surely to
warn all of their approach and the flag to ensure a possibly friendly
encounter. And hanging over the side of the ship riding upon them
roiling waters and resting on a table is an anchor attached to a
thirty link chain.
Hunh? They’re dropping anchor whilst rowing and whilst lookout is
perched upon the bow? Sumpthin’s fishy here in China. Still. there’s
no denying artistic license.
And so we come to another carver of great skills. this time plying
his trade upon this block of celadon green nephrite. Oh what a
delight. One can feel the motion of the sea. The mackerel are jumping
out of the waters. Do mackerel jump? The wind is blowing. splashing
mighty sprays of water over the prow. We are drenched. The deck is
glistening with treacherous streams of water flows. A voice yells
out. Bring 'er to port lads. But you don’t understand. It’s in
Chinese. And you start sliding… slipping closer and closer to the
edge of the ship. when suddenly. out of the blue. you realize you’re
not going to drown because you’re in a picture. and you start to grin.
and invite all who are reading this Tidbits. to come and view this
magnificently carved ship made of celadon green nephrite.
You know where. Home page: tyler-adam.com. Left hand menu. Click on
Tidbits.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark