The frequent sorrow creeps into my heart, and the calm dream of grace ultimately withers. The dream of the ends of the earth and the wind plays all the autumn waters. All the flowers wither, tears of a thousand years in Oxford, powerless against fate.
Xiao Wei and the others do not yet know about their sister's ordeal. He thinks he should be living happily now, but how could he have imagined that, in this brief period, his sister has suffered one misfortune after another, leaving her now mad and confused, unable to distinguish right from wrong, with even eating becoming a major challenge. If he knew, he would surely be deeply pained, for she is the sister who was his companion through so many years.
He always wanted to return home to be with his sister, to see how she was doing now, but he was always held back by his wife's needs. He could not bear to disappoint his wife, knowing her expectations of him.
