<Previous Section>
<Next Section>

小旻

旻天疾威。
敷于下土。
謀猶回遹。
何日斯沮。
謀臧不從。
不臧覆用。
我視謀猶。
亦孔之邛。
潝潝訿訿。
亦孔之哀。
謀之其臧。
則具是違。
謀之不臧。
則具是依。
我視謀猶。
伊于胡底。
我龜既厭。
不我告猶。
謀夫孔多。
是用不集。
發言盈庭。
誰敢執其咎。
如匪行邁謀。
是用不得于道。
哀哉為猶。
匪先民是程。
匪大猶是經。
維邇言是聽。
維邇言是爭。
如彼築室于道謀。
是用不潰于成。
國雖靡止。
或聖或否。
民雖靡膴。
或哲或謀。
或肅或艾。
如彼泉流。
無淪胥以敗。
不敢暴虎。
不敢馮河。
人知其一。
莫知其它。
戰戰兢兢。
如臨深淵。
如履薄冰。

XIAO MIN

The angry terrors of Compassionate Heaven,
Extend through this lower world;
[The king's] counsels and plans are crooked and bad; --
When will he stop [in the course]?
Counsels which are good he will not follow,
And those which are not good he employs,
When I look at his counsels and plans,
I am greatly pained.
Now they agree, and now they defame one another; --
The case is greatly to be deplored.
If a counsel be good,
They all are found opposing it.
If a counsel be bad,
They all are found according with it.
When I look at such counsels and plans,
What will they come to?
Our tortoises are wearied out,
And will not tell us anything about the plans.
The counsellors are very many,
But on that account nothing is accomplished.
The speakers fill the court,
But who dares to take any responsibility on himself?
We are as if we consulted [about a journey] without taking a step in advance,
And therefore did not get on on the road.
Alas! our formers of plans,
Do not take the ancients for their pattern,
And do not regulate them by great principles.
They only hearken to shallow words,
And quarrel about shallow words,
They are like one taking counsel with wayfarers about building a house.
Which will consequently never come to completion.
Although the kingdom be unsettled,
There are some who are wise, and others who are not.
Although the people may not be numerous,
Some have perspicacity, some have counsel,
Some have gravity, and some have orderliness.
But we are going on like the stream flowing from a spring,
And will sink together in a common ruin.
They dare not without weapons attack a tiger;
They dare not without a boat cross the He.
They know one thing,
But they only know that one.
We should be apprehensive and careful,
As if we were on the brink of a deep gulf,
As if we were treading on thin ice.
<Previous Section>
<Next Section>
IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia