Inspired by the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone).
Epilogue: The Birds Returning to the Woods (Excerpt from Chapter 5 of Dream of the Red Chamber)
The officials: their estates withered. The wealthy: their gold and silver scattered. The merciful: narrowly escaping death. The ruthless: meeting their clear retribution. Those who owed a life have paid it back; Those who owed tears have wept them dry.
The cycle of vengeance is no small matter. Partings and reunions are all predestined. A life cut short is answered by a past life. Wealth in old age is nothing but sheer luck.
The awakened retreat into the void, the obsessed throw their lives away in vain. Just like birds scattering into the woods when the food is gone— Leaving behind a vast, white earth, completely clean.
為官的、家業凋零，富貴的、金銀散盡，有恩的、死裡逃生，無情的、分明報應，欠命的、命已還，欠淚的、淚已盡。冤冤相報實非輕，分離聚合皆前定；欲知命短問前生，老來富貴也真僥幸。看破的、遁入空門，痴迷的、枉送了性命；好一似食盡鳥投林，落了片白茫茫大地真乾淨。
Is the journey of repaying tears also a process of dissolving karma?
Materials: Jade stone, silver leaf, silver powder