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巷伯

萋兮斐兮。
成是貝錦。
彼譖人者。
亦已大甚。
哆兮侈兮。
成是南箕。
彼譖人者。
誰適與謀。
緝緝翩翩。
謀欲譖人。
慎爾言也。
謂爾不信。
捷捷幡幡。
謀欲譖言。
豈不爾受。
既其女遷。
驕人好好。
勞人草草。
蒼天蒼天。
視彼驕人。
矜此勞人。
彼譖人者。
誰適與謀。
取彼譖人。
投畀豺虎。
豺虎不食。
投畀有北。
有北不受。
投畀有昊。
楊園之道。
猗于畝丘。
寺人孟子。
作為此詩。
凡百君子。
敬而聽之。

XIANG BO

A few elegant lines,
May be made out to be shell-embroidery.
Those slanderers,
Have gone to great excess.
A few diverging points,
May be made out to be the southern Sieve.
Those slanderers!
Who devised their schemes for them?
With babbling mouths you go about,
Scheming and wishing to slander others,
[But] be careful of your words; --
[People] will [yet] say that you are untruthful.
Clever you are, and ever changing.
In your schemes and wishes to slander.
They receive it [now] indeed,
But by and by it will turn to your own hurt.
The proud are delighted,
And the troubled are in sorrow.
O azure Heaven! O azure Heaven!
Look on those proud men,
Pity those troubled.
Those slanderers!
Who devised their schemes for them?
I would take those slanderers,
And throw them to wolves and tigers.
If these refused to devour them,
I would cast them into the north.
If the north refused to receive them,
I would throw them into the hands of great [Heaven].
The way through the willow garden,
Lies near the acred height.
I, the eunuch Meng-zi,
Have made this poem.
All ye officers,
Reverently hearken to it.
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IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia