--The Immortal Beggar, Sign of the Qin
Life is a game haunted by the possibility of escape.
--The Tattooed Monk, Sign of the Qin
An earthworm may swear there is no such thing as a flying dragon, even though it has come to know the passing shape of its winged shadow.
Yamu, Lord of the Dead, Sign of the Qin
One stroke ties a thousand knots.
--The Master Hand, Sign of the Qin
Move like a tiger, gaze like a hawk.
Where there is up there is down,
where there is forward there is back.
Where there is left there is right.
When in motion, everything moves;
when in stillness, everything is still.
--"The River Goddess's Scroll," Sign of the Qin
Miracle is faith's favorite child.
The Master Hand, Sign of the Qin
Havoc is a necessity.
--Yamu, Lord of the Dead, Sign of the Qin
The hardest thing to escape from is the wish to escape.
The Master Hand, Sign of the Qin
A soul must sometimes shrink before it finds its true size.
The Tattooed Monk, Sign of the Qin
The world circles us with light. Yet during every moment of life, we are entirely lit from within.
The Tattooed Monk, Sign of the Qin
Change is the law of the universe, but why there should be a universe subject to the laws of change--or why there should be a universe at all--are questions I cannot answer.
--The Master Hand, Sign of the Qin
As we went out a-hunting
One morning in the spring,
Both the hounds and horses running well
Made the hills and valleys ring.
But to our great misfortune
No fox could there be found.
Our huntsmen cursed and swore but still
No fox moved over the ground.
Up spoke out master huntsman,
At the head of the hounds rod he,
Saying, "Lo, we have ridden for a good three hours
But no fox did we see.
But there is strength within me
And I will have my chase,
And if only the Devil himself come by
We'd run him such a race!"
Then up there sprung like lightning
A fox from out of his hole.
His fur was the color of a starless night,
His eyes like burning coal.
And we chased him over the valley,
We chased him over the field,
We chased him down to the riverbank
But never would he yield.
And he jumped into the river
And he swam to the other side.
He laughed so hard that the greenwood shook
And he turned to the huntsmen and cried:
"Ride on, my gallant huntsmen!
When must I come again?
Of ever you shall want a fox
To chase all over the plain.
And when your need is greatest,
Just call upon m name,
And I will come and you shall have
The best of sport and game."
The men looked up on wonder
And the hounds ran back to hide,
For the fox had turned to the Devil himself
Where he stood on the other side.
The men, the hounds, and the horses
Went flying back to town,
And hard on their heels came a little black fox
Laughing as he ran.
--"The Little Black Fox," Traditional Ballad
Longest night, and coldest, of the year.
Lights beat back the blackness of the sky:
Bonfire blazes, jubilantly garish;
Full moon rises, perfect as a pearl.
I do not know what fortune brought here--
Good or ill--and yet I know that I
Will not forget, until the day I perish,
Wintermoon, and the kindness of a girl.
--"Wintermoon Wish," Sharon Shinn
Through the jungle very softly flits a shadow and a sigh--
He is Fear, O little Hunter, he is Fear!
--Rudyard Kipling, "The Song of the Little Hunter"
