Absurdity, Allegory and China

I keep receiving reports from friends around the northern hemisphere complaining about the cold. I am in north China, and I’m complaining about it too. It used to be easier to deal with, but there’s the age chill factor involved with it now. Tomorrow is predicted to be both windy and cold here, dropping wind chill temps into the -20s C. range.  This seems like a good time to post a short poem by my long ago and favorite teacher, Wendell Berry, a piece that I think could be rendered into Chinese quite effectively.

Walking on the River Ice
A man could be a god
if the ice wouldn’t melt
and he could stand the cold.