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On the trees go the blows ding-ding; |
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And the birds cry out ying-ying. |
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One issues from the dark valley, |
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And removes to the lofty tree, |
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While ying goes its cry, |
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Seeking with its voice its companion. |
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Look at the bird, |
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Bird as it is, seeking with its voice its companion; |
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And shall a man, |
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Not seek to have his friends? |
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Spiritual beings will then hearken to him; |
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He shall have harmony and peace. |
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Xu-xu they go, as they fell the trees. |
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I have strained off my spirits, till they are fine, |
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And the fatted lambs are provided, |
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To which to invite my paternal uncles. |
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It is better that something should keep them from coming, |
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Than that I should not have regarded them. |
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Oh! brightly I have sprinkled and swept my courtyard, |
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And arranged my viands, with eight dishes of grain, along with my fatted meat, |
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To which to invite my maternal uncles. |
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It is better that something should keep them from coming, |
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Than that there should be blame attaching to me. |
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They fell down the trees along the hill-side. |
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I have strained off my spirits in abundance; |
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The dishes stand in rows, |
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And none of my brethren are absent. |
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The loss of kindly feeling among people, |
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May arise from faults in the matter of dry provisions. |
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If I have spirits I strain them, do I; |
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If I have no spirits, I buy them, do I; |
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I make the drums beat, do I; |
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I lead on the dance, do I. |
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Whenever we have leisure, |
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Let us drink the sparkling spirits. |
Published
by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003
by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia