On Seizing Youth Before Old Age

Young one, take the path of devotion today, for an old man never gets his youth back tomorrow. You have peace of mind and strength of body; the field is wide open, so strike the ball. Fate stole years from me, years whose every day was worth a whole night of glory. I did not value those days back then; now I understand, when I have already lost the game. What effort can an old donkey make under its load? Go on, you, while you still ride a swift horse. A broken cup, even if they mend it neatly, will never fetch the price of a whole one. Now that it has slipped from your hand through neglect, there is no remedy but to bind it back together. Who told you to throw yourself into the river? But since you have fallen in, at least keep swimming. Through carelessness you lost the clean water; what can you do now but purify yourself with dust? Since you failed to win the race against the nimble runners, keep going anyway, stumbling and rising. If those swift-footed ones have raced far ahead, then you, helpless as you are, at least get up from where you sit.