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鴟鴞

鴟鴞鴟鴞。
既取我子。
無毀我室。
恩斯勤斯。
鬻子之閔斯。
迨天之未陰雨。
徹彼桑土。
綢繆牖戶。
今女下民。
或敢侮予。
予手拮据。
予所捋荼。
予所蓄租。
予口卒瘏。
曰予未有室家。
予羽譙譙。
予尾翛翛。
予室翹翹。
風雨所漂搖。
予維音嘵嘵。

CHI XIAO

O owl, O owl,
You have taken my young ones; --
Do not [also] destroy my nest.
With love and with toil,
I nourished them. -- I am to be pitied.
Before the sky was dark with rain,
I gathered the roots of the mulberry tree,
And bound round and round my window and door.
Now ye people below,
Dare any of you despise my house?
With my claws I tore and held.
Through the rushes which I gathered,
And all the materials I collected,
My mouth was all sore; --
I said to myself, ' I have not yet got my house complete. '
My wings are all-injured;
My tail is all-broken;
My house is in a perilous condition;
It is tossed about in the wind and rain: --
I can but cry out with this note of alarm.
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IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia