The Mother-of-Pearl Shell
The mother-of-pearl shell forever weeps.
Out in the ocean, though man knows not,
Waves are high even without wind.
So she is rocked, tossing and rolling,
Without a course, and forever
Weeps in the depth of the sea.
One day, by chance, there got in the shell
An imperceptible grain of sand;
As she is tossed about by the waves,
It pricks her tender and sensitive flesh.
In pain from which she knows no escape,
The mother-of-pearl shell forever weeps.
Though silently she weeps,
Tears ooze out from her flesh
And bathe the little grain of sand.
Ah, those pure and heart-rending tears
That cover the pitiful grain of sand
And daily transform it into a gem!
But tossing and rolling forever she weeps.
70 
