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海咸河淡, 鳞潜羽翔。
hǎi xián hé dàn, lín qián yǔ xiáng
海 (sea) 咸 (salty) 河 (river) 淡 (fresh),
The sea water is salty while the river is fresh. 淡 dàn by itself also means dilute, weak or thin and in this case refers to the fresh water.
鳞 (fish scale) 潜 (submerge) 羽 (feather) 翔 (soar)
The fish swim in the sea and birds fly in the sky. 潜 qián also means latent, to hide. Nathan considered this to be the end of the first chapter which begins with the heavens and earth and conclude with common knowledge about nature. However, other researchers separate the 125 lines of 千字文 by other forms.
(I'll be going to the Bridge over River Kwai early tomorrow for a week, see you when I get back).
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