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小弁

弁彼鸒斯。
歸飛提提。
民莫不穀。
我獨于罹。
何辜于天。
我罪伊何。
心之憂矣。
云如之何。
踧踧周道。
鞫為茂草。
我心憂傷。
惄焉如擣。
假寐永嘆。
維憂用老。
心之憂矣。
疢如疾首。
維桑與梓。
必恭敬止。
靡瞻匪父。
靡依匪母。
不屬于毛。
不離于裹。
天之生我。
我辰安在。
菀彼柳斯。
鳴蜩嘒嘒。
有凗者淵。
萑葦淠淠。
譬彼舟流。
不知所屆。
心之憂矣。
不遑假寐。
鹿斯之奔。
維足伎伎。
雉之朝雊。
尚求其雌。
譬彼壞木。
疾用無枝。
心之憂矣。
寧莫之知。
相彼投兔。
尚或先之。
行有死人。
尚或墐之。
君子秉心。
維其忍之。
心之憂矣。
涕既隕之。
君子信讒。
如或酬之。
君子不惠。
不舒究之。
伐木掎矣。
析薪杝矣。
舍彼有罪。
予之佗矣。
莫高匪山。
莫浚匪泉。
君子無易由言。
耳屬于垣。
無逝我梁。
無發我笱。
我躬不閱。
遑恤我後。

XIAO BIAN

With flapping wings the crows,
Come back, flying all in a flock.
Other people all are happy,
And I only am full of misery.
What is my offence against Heaven?
What is my crime?
My heart is sad; --
What is to be done?
The way to Zhou should be level and easy,
But it is all overgrown with rank grass.
My heart is wounded with sorrow,
And I think till I feel as if pounded [all over].
I lie down undressed, and sigh continually;
Through my grief I am growing old.
My heart is sad; --
It puts me in pain like a headache.
Even the mulberry trees and the Zi,
Must be regarded with reverence:
But no one is to be looked up to like a father;
No one is to be depended on like a mother.
Have I not a connection with the hairs [of my father]?
Did I not dwell in the womb [of my mother]?
O Heaven who gave me birth!
How was it at such an inauspicious time?
Luxuriant grow those willows,
And the cicadas [on them] go hui-hui.
Deep looks the pool,
And abundantly grow the rushes and reeds [about it],
[But] I am like a boat adrift, --
Where it will go you know not.
My heart is sad; --
I have not leisure to lie down [even] undressed.
The stag is running away,
But his legs move slowly.
The pheasant crows in the morning,
Seeking his mate.
I am like a ruined tree,
Stript by disease of all its branches.
My heart is sad; --
How is it that no one knows me?
Look at the hare seeking protection; --
Some one will step in before and save it.
One the road there is a dead man;
Some one will bury him.
[But] such is the heart of our sovereign,
That there is nothing he cannot bear to do.
My heart is sad,
So that my tears are falling down.
Our sovereign believes slanders,
As readily as he joins in the pledge cup.
Our sovereign is unkind,
And does not leisurely examine into things.
The tree-fellers follow the lean of the tree;
The faggot-cleavers follow the direction of the grain;
[But] he lets alone the guilty,
And imputes guilt to me.
There is nothing higher than a mountain;
There is nothing deeper than a [great] spring.
Our sovereign should not lightly utter his words,
Lest an ear be laid close to the wall.
Do not approach my dam;
Do not remove my basket.
My person is rejected; --
Of what use is it to care for what may come after?
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IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia