Who Is Bound Together With The Lotus?

Unraveling another poem

Who Is Bound Together With The Lotus?

I’m going to at least try to keep you in suspense here. I’m sure you can read what other translators have said to know the answer. However, it’s a little bit more fun to discover instead of just having the answer given to you.

The clue lies in this line:

只見首頁也是畫，卻畫著一株桂花，下面有一方池沼，其中水涸泥幹，蓮枯藕敗。

The first page here also had a picture. This time it was of an osmanthus tree with a dried up pond beneath it. Its mud was cracked and parched, and there was a withered lotus with decayed roots.