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Bright was that milky way, |
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Shining and revolving in the sky. |
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The king said, 'Oh! |
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What crime is chargeable on us now, |
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That Heaven [thus] sends down death and disorder? |
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Famine comes again and again. |
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There is no victim I have grudged; |
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Our maces and other tokens are exhausted: -- |
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How is it that I am not heard? |
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'The drought is excessive; |
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Its fervours become more and more tormenting. |
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I have not ceased offering pure sacrifices; |
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From the border altars I have gone to the ancestral temple. |
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To the [Powers] above and below I have presented my offerings and then buried them: -- |
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There is no Spirit whom I have not honoured. |
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Hou-ji is not equal to the occasion; |
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God does not come to us. |
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This wasting and ruin of our country, -- |
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Would that it fell [only] on me! |
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'The drought is excessive; |
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And I may not try to excuse myself. |
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I am full of terror and feel the peril, |
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Like the clap of thunder or the roll. |
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Of the remnant of Zhou, among the black-haired people, |
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There will not be half a man left; |
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Nor will God from His great heaven, |
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Exempt [even] me. |
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Shall we not mingle our fears together? |
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[The sacrifices to] my ancestors will be extinguished. |
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'The drought is excessive; |
|
And it cannot be stopped. |
|
More fierce and fiery, |
|
It is leaving me no place. |
|
My end is near; -- |
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I have none to look up to, none to look around to. |
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The many dukes and their ministers of the past, |
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Give me no help. |
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O ye parents and [nearer] ancestors, |
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How can ye bear to see us thus? |
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'The drought is excessive; -- |
|
Parched are the hills, and the streams are dried. |
|
The demon of drought exercises his oppression. |
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As if scattering flames and fire. |
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My heart is terrified with the heat; -- |
|
My sorrowing heart is as if on fire. |
|
The many dukes and their ministers of the past, |
|
Do not hear me, |
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O God, from Thy great heaven, |
|
Grant me the liberty to withdraw [into retirement]! |
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'The drought is excessive; -- |
|
I struggle, and fear to go away. |
|
How is it I am afflicted with this drought? |
|
I cannot ascertain the cause of it. |
|
In praying for a good year I was abundantly early; |
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I was not late [in sacrificing] to [the Spirits] of the four quarters and of the land. |
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God in the great heaven, |
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Does not consider me. |
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Reverent to the intelligent Spirits, |
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I ought not to be thus the object of their anger. |
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'The drought is excessive; -- |
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All is dispersion, and the bonds of government are relaxed. |
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Reduced to extremities are the Heads of departments; |
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Full of distress are my chief minister, |
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The master of the horse, the commander of the guards, |
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The chief cook, and my attendants. |
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There is no one who has not [tried to] help [the people]; |
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They have not refrained on the ground of being unable. |
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I look up to the great heaven; -- |
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Why am I plunged in this sorrow? |
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'I look up to the great heaven, |
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But its stars sparkle bright. |
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My great officers and excellent men, |
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Ye have drawn near [to Heaven] with reverence with all your powers. |
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Death is approaching, |
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But do not cast away what you have done. |
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You are seeking not for me only, |
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But to give rest to all our departments. |
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I look up to the great heaven; -- |
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When shall I be favoured with repose? |
Published
by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003
by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia