|
Let the brilliant white colt, |
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Feed on the young growth of my vegetable garden. |
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Tether it by the foot, tie it by the collar, |
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To prolong this morning. |
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So may its owner of whom I think, |
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Spend his time here at his ease! |
|
Let the brilliant white colt, |
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Feed on the bean sprouts of my vegetable garden. |
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Tether it by the foot, tie it by the collar, |
|
To prolong this evening. |
|
So may its owner of whom I think, |
|
Be here, an admired quest! |
|
If [you with] the brilliant white colt, |
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Would brightly come to me, |
|
You should be a duke, you should be a marquis, |
|
Enjoying yourself without end. |
|
Be on your guard against idly wandering; |
|
Deal vigorously with your thoughts of retirement. |
|
The brilliant white colt, |
|
Is there in that empty valley, |
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With a bundle of fresh grass. |
|
Its owner is like a gem. |
|
Do not make the news of you rare as gold and gems, -- |
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Indulging your purpose to abandon me. |
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Yellow bird, yellow bird, |
|
Do not settle on the broussonetias, |
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Do not eat my paddy. |
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The people of this country, |
|
Are not willing to treat me well. |
|
I will return, I will go back, |
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Back to my country and kin. |
|
Yellow bird, yellow bird, |
|
Do not settle on the mulberry trees, |
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Do not eat my maize. |
|
The people of this country, |
|
Will not let me come to an understanding with them. |
|
I will return, I will go back, |
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Back to my brethren. |
|
Yellow bird, yellow bird, |
|
Do not settle on the oaks, |
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Do not eat my grand millet. |
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The people of this country, |
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I cannot dwell with. |
|
I will return, I will go back, |
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Back to my uncles. |
|
By the graceful sweep of these banks, |
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With the southern hill, so calm in the distance, |
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[Has the palace arisen], firm as the roots of a clump of bamboos, |
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[With its roof] like the luxuriant head of a pine tree. |
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May the brothers [here], |
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Be loving among themselves, |
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And have no schemings against one another! |
|
Having entered into the inheritance of his ancestors, |
|
He has built his chambers, five thousand cubits of walls, |
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With their doors to the west and to the south. |
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Here will he reside; here will he sit; |
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Here will he laugh; here will he talk. |
|
They bound the frames for the earth, exactly over one another; |
|
Tuo-tuo went on the pounding; -- |
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Impervious [the walls] to wind and rain, |
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Offering no cranny to bird or rat. |
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A grand dwelling is it for our noble lord. |
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Like a man on tip-toe, in reverent expectation; |
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Like an arrow, flying rapidly; |
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Like a bird which has changed its feathers; |
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Like a pheasant on flying wings; |
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Is the [hall] which our noble lord will ascend. |
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Level and smooth is the court-yard, |
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And lofty are the pillars around it. |
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Pleasant is the exposure of the chamber to the light, |
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And deep and wide are its recesses; -- |
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Here will our noble lord repose. |
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On the rush-mat below, and that of fine bamboos above it, |
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Here may he repose in slumber! |
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May he sleep and awake, |
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[Saying] ' Divine for me my dreams. |
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What dreams are lucky? |
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They have been of bears and grisly bears; |
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They have been of cobras and [other] serpents. ' |
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The chief diviner will divine them. |
|
The bears and grisly bears, |
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Are the auspicious intimations of sons. |
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The cobras and [other] serpents, |
|
Are the auspicious intimations of daughters. |
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Sons shall be born to him: -- |
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They will be put to sleep on couches; |
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They will be clothed in robes; |
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They will have sceptres to play with; |
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Their cry will be loud. |
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They will be [hereafter] resplendent with red knee-covers, |
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The [future] king, the princes of the land. |
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Daughters shall be born to him: -- |
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They will be put to sleep on the ground; |
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They will be clothed with wrappers; |
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They will have tiles to play with. |
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It will be theirs neither to do wrong nor to do good. |
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Only about the spirits and the food will they have to think, |
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And to cause no sorrow to their parents. |
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Who can say that you have no sheep? |
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There are three hundred in [each] herd. |
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Who says that you have no cattle? |
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There are ninety, which are black-lipped. |
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Your sheep come, |
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Horned, but all agreeing. |
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Your cattle come, |
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Flapping their ears. |
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Some are descending among the mounds; |
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Some are drinking at the pools; |
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Some are lying down, some are moving about. |
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Your herdsmen come, |
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Bearing their rain-coats and bamboo-hats, |
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Or carrying on their backs their provisions. |
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In thirties are the creatures arranged according to their colours; |
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For your victims there is abundant provision. |
|
Your herdsmen come, |
|
With their large faggots, and smaller branches, |
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And with their prey of birds and beasts. |
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Your sheep come, |
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Vigorous and strong, |
|
None injured, no infection in the herd. |
|
At the wave of the [herdsman's] arm, |
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All come, all go up [into the fold]. |
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Your herdsmen shall dream, -- |
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Of multitudes and then of fishes; |
|
Of the tortoise-and serpent; and then of the falcon banners. |
|
The chief diviner will divine the dreams, |
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How the multitudes dissolving into fishes, |
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Betoken plentiful years; |
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How the tortoise-and-serpent dissolving into falcon banners, |
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Betoken the increasing population of the kingdom. |
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Lofty is that southern hill, |
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With its masses of rocks! |
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Awe-inspiring are you, O [Grand] master Yin, |
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And the people all look to you! |
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A fire burns in their grieving hearts; |
|
They do not dare to speak of you even in jest. |
|
The kingdom is verging to extinction; -- |
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How is it that you do not consider the state of things? |
|
Lofty is that southern hill, |
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And vigorously grows the vegetation on it! |
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Awe-inspiring are you, O [Grand] master Yin, |
|
But how is it that you are so unjust? |
|
Heaven is continually redoubling its afflictions; |
|
Deaths and disorder increase and multiply; |
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No words of satisfaction come from the people; |
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And yet you do not correct nor bemoan yourself! |
|
The Grand-master Yin, |
|
Is the foundation of our Zhou, |
|
And the balance of the State is in his hands. |
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He should be keeping together the four quarters [of the kingdom]; |
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He should be aiding the Son of Heaven, |
|
So as to preserve the people from going astray. |
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O unpitying great Heaven, |
|
It is not right he should reduce us all to such misery! |
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Doing nothing himself personally, |
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The people have no confidence in him, |
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By making no inquiry, and no trial of their services, |
|
He should not deal deceitfully with superior men. |
|
By dismissing them on the requirement of justice, |
|
Mean men would not be endangering [the common weal]; |
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And his mean relatives, |
|
Would not be in offices of importance. |
|
Great Heaven, unjust, |
|
Is sending down these exhausting disorders. |
|
Great Heaven, unkind, |
|
Is sending down these great miseries. |
|
Let superior men come [into office], |
|
And that would bring rest to the people's hearts. |
|
Let superior men do justly, |
|
And the animosities and angers would disappear. |
|
O unpitying, great Heaven, |
|
There is no end to the disorder! |
|
With every month it continues to grow, |
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So that the people have no repose. |
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I am as if intoxicated with the grief of my heart. |
|
Who holds the ordering of the kingdom? |
|
Not attending himself to the government, |
|
The issue is toil and pain to the people. |
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I yoke my four steeds, |
|
My four steeds, long-necked. |
|
I look to the four quarters [of the kingdom]; |
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Distress is everywhere; there is nowhere I can drive to. |
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Now your evil is rampant, |
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And I see your spears. |
|
Again you are pacified and friendly, |
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As if you were pledging one another. |
|
From great Heaven is the injustice, |
|
And our king has no repose. |
|
[Yet] he will not correct his heart, |
|
And goes on to resent endeavours to rectify him. |
|
I, Jia-fu, have made this song, |
|
To lay bare the king's disorders. |
|
If you would but change your heart, |
|
And nourish the myriad States! -- |
|
In the first month [of summer] the hoar-frost abounds, |
|
And my heart is wounded with sorrow. |
|
The false calumnies of the people, |
|
Also wax greater and greater. |
|
I think how I stand alone, |
|
And the sorrow of my heart grows intense. |
|
Alas! through my anxious cares, |
|
My hidden sorrow goes on to make me ill. |
|
Ye parents who gave me birth! |
|
Was it to make me suffer this pain? |
|
[Why was this time] not before me? |
|
Or [why was it] not after me? |
|
Their good words are [only] from the mouth; |
|
Their bad words are [only] from the mouth. |
|
The sorrow of my heart becomes greater, |
|
And because of this I incur contempt. |
|
My sorrow heart is very sad; |
|
I think of my unfortunate position. |
|
The innocent people, |
|
Will all be reduced to servitude with me. |
|
Alas for me! |
|
From whom shall I henceforth get support? |
|
I see a crow which will rest, |
|
-- But on whose house? |
|
Look into the middle of the forest; |
|
There are [only] large faggots and small branches in it. |
|
The people now amidst their perils, |
|
Look to Heaven, all dark. |
|
But let its determination be fixed, |
|
And there is none whom it will not overcome. |
|
There is the great God, -- |
|
Does He hate any one? |
|
If one say of a hill that it is low, |
|
There are its ridges, and its large masses. |
|
The false calumnies of the people, -- |
|
How is it that you do not repress them? |
|
You call those experienced ancients; |
|
You consult the diviner of dreams: |
|
They all say, ' We are wise; |
|
But who can distinguish the male and female crow? ' |
|
We say of the heavens that they are high, |
|
But I dare not but stoop under them. |
|
We say of the earth that it is thick, |
|
But I dare not but walk daintily on it. |
|
For my freely expressing myself thus, |
|
I have reason, I have good ground. |
|
Alas for the men of this time! |
|
Why are they such cobras and efts? |
|
Look at that rugged and stony field; -- |
|
Luxuriantly rises in it the springing grain! |
|
[But] Heaven moves and shakes me, |
|
As if it could not overcome me. |
|
They sought me [at first] to be a pattern [to them], |
|
[Eagerly] as if they could not get me. |
|
[Now] they regard me with great animosity, |
|
And will not use my strength. |
|
My heart with its sorrow, |
|
Feels as if it were tied and bound by something. |
|
This government of the present time, -- |
|
How oppressive it is! |
|
The flames, when they are blazing, |
|
May still perhaps be extinguished; |
|
But the majestic honoured capital of Zhou, |
|
Is being destroyed by Si of Bao. |
|
This issue is ever my anxious thought. |
|
Moreover, you have the embarrassment of soaking rain. |
|
Your carriage is loaded, |
|
And if you throw away your wheel-aids, |
|
Your load will be overturned, |
|
And you will be crying, ' O sir, help me! ' |
|
If you do throw away your wheel-aids, |
|
Which give asistance to the spokes; |
|
And if you constantly look after the driver, |
|
You will not overturn your load, |
|
And in the end will get over the most difficult places; |
|
But you have not thought of this. |
|
The fish are in the pond, |
|
But they cannot enjoy themselves. |
|
Although they dive to the bottom, |
|
They are very clearly seen. |
|
My sorrow heart is deeply pained, |
|
When I think of the oppression in the kingdom. |
|
They have their good spirits, |
|
And their fine viands along with them. |
|
They assemble their neighbours, |
|
And their relatives are full of their praise. |
|
When I think of my solitariness, |
|
My sorrowing heart is full of distress. |
|
Mean-like, those have their houses; |
|
Abjects, they will have their emoluments. |
|
But the people now have no maintenance. |
|
For Heaven is pounding them with its calamities, |
|
The rich may get through, |
|
But alas for the helpless and solitary! |
|
At the conjunction [of the sun and moon] in the tenth month, |
|
On the first day of the moon, which was Xin-mao, |
|
The sun was eclipsed, |
|
A thing of very evil omen. |
|
Then the moon became small, |
|
And now the sun became small. |
|
Henceforth the lower people, |
|
Will be in a very deplorable case. |
|
The sun and moon announce evil, |
|
Not keeping to their proper paths. |
|
All through the kingdom there is no [proper] government, |
|
Because the good are not employed. |
|
For the moon to be eclipsed, |
|
Is but an ordinary matter. |
|
Now that the sun has been eclipsed, -- |
|
How bad it is! |
|
Grandly flashes the lightning of the thunder; -- |
|
There is a want of rest, a want of good. |
|
The streams all bubble up and overflow. |
|
The crags on the hill-tops fall down. |
|
High banks become valleys; |
|
Deep valleys become hills. |
|
Alas for the men of this time! |
|
How does [the king] not stop these things? |
|
Huang-fu is the president; |
|
Fan is the minister of instruction; |
|
Jia-bo is the [chief] administrator; |
|
Zhong-yun is the chief cook; |
|
Zou is the recorder of the interior; |
|
Jue is master of the house; |
|
Yu is captain of the guards; |
|
And the beautiful wife blazes, now in possession of her place. |
|
This Huang-fu, |
|
Will not acknowledge that he is acting out of season. |
|
But why does he call us to action, |
|
Without coming and consulting with us? |
|
He has removed our walls and roofs, |
|
And our fields are all either a marsh or a moor. |
|
He says, ' I am not injuring you; |
|
The laws require that thus it should be? ' |
|
Huang-fu is very wise; |
|
He has built a great city for himself in Xiang. |
|
He chose three men as his ministers, |
|
All of them indeed of great wealth. |
|
He could not bring himself to leave a single minister, |
|
Who might guard our king. |
|
He [also] selected those who had chariots and horses, |
|
To go and reside in Xiang.' |
|
I have exerted myself to discharge my service, |
|
And do not dare to make a report of my toils. |
|
Without crime or offense of any kind, |
|
Slanderous mouths are loud against me. |
|
[But] the calamities of the lower people, |
|
Do not come down from Heaven. |
|
A multitide of [fair] words, and hatred behind the back, -- |
|
The earnest, strong pursuit of this is from men. |
|
Distant far is my village, |
|
And my dissatisfaction is great. |
|
In other quarters there is ease, |
|
And I dwell here alone and sorrowful. |
|
Every body is going into retirement, |
|
And I alone dare not seek rest. |
|
The ordinances of Heaven are inexplicable, |
|
But I will not dare to follow my friends and leave my post. |
|
Great and wide Heaven, |
|
How is it you have contracted your kindness, |
|
Sending down death and famine, |
|
Destroying all through the kingdom? |
|
Compassionate Heaven, arrayed in terrors, |
|
How is it you exercise no forethought, no care? |
|
Let alone the criminals: -- |
|
They have suffered for their offences; |
|
But those who have no crime, |
|
Are indiscriminately involved in ruin. |
|
The honoured House of Zhou is [nearly] extinguished, |
|
And there is no means of stopping or settling [the troubles]. |
|
The Heads of the officers have left their places, |
|
And no one knows my toil. |
|
The three high ministers, and [other] great officers, |
|
Are unwilling [to attend to their duties] early and late. |
|
The lords of the various States, |
|
Are unwilling [to appear at court] morning and evening. |
|
If indeed he would turn to good, -- |
|
But on the contrary he proceeds to [greater] evil. |
|
How is it, O great Heaven, |
|
That he will not hearken to the justest words? |
|
He is like a man going [astray], |
|
[Who knows] not where he will proceed to. |
|
All ye officers, |
|
Let each of you reverently attend to his duties. |
|
How do ye not stand in awe of one another? |
|
Ye do not stand in awe of Heaven. |
|
War has done its work, but he withdraws not [from evil]; |
|
Famine has done its work, but he goes not on [to good]; |
|
So that I, a [mere] groom of the chambers, |
|
Am full of grief and in pain daily. |
|
All ye officers, |
|
Ye are unwilling to declare [the truth to him]. |
|
When you hear a question, you [simply] answer it, |
|
And when slander touches you, you withdraw. |
|
Alas that [right words] cannot be spoken, |
|
Which come not from the tongue [only]! |
|
The speakers of them are sure to suffer. |
|
Well is it for the words that can be spoken! |
|
The artful speech flows like a stream, |
|
And the speakers dwell at ease in prosperity. |
|
It may be said about taking office, |
|
That it is full of hazard and peril. |
|
By [advice] that he says cannot be followed, |
|
You offend against the Son of Heaven. |
|
By advice that he says will be followed, |
|
You excite the resentment of your friends. |
|
I say to you, ' Remove to the royal capital, ' |
|
And ye say that you have not got houses there. |
|
Painful are my inmost thoughts, and I weep blood; -- |
|
Every word I speak makes me hated; |
|
But when you formerly left to reside elsewhere, |
|
Who was it that made houses for you? |