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大東

有饛簋飧。
有捄棘匕。
周道如砥。
其直如矢。
君子所履。
小人所視。
睠言顧之。
潸焉出涕。
小東大東。
杼柚其空。
糾糾葛屨。
可以履霜。
佻佻公子。
行彼周行。
既往既來。
使我心疚。
有冽氿泉。
無浸穫薪。
契契寤歎。
哀我憚人。
薪是穫薪。
尚可載也。
哀我憚人。
亦可息也。
東人之子。
職勞不來。
西人之子。
粲粲衣服。
舟人之子。
熊羆是裘。
私人之子。
百僚是試。
或以其酒。
不以其漿。
鞙鞙佩璲。
不以其長。
維天有漢。
監亦有光。
跂彼織女。
終日七襄。
雖則七襄。
不成報章。
睆彼牽牛。
不以服箱。
東有啟明。
西有長庚。
有捄天畢。
載施之行。
維南有箕。
不可以簸揚。
維北有斗。
不可以挹酒漿。
維南有箕。
載翕其舌。
維北有斗。
西柄之揭。

DA DONG

Well loaded with millet were the dishes,
And long and curved were spoons of thorn-wood.
The way to Zhou was like a whetstone,
And straight as an arrow.
[So] the officers trod it,
And the common people looked on it.
When I look back and think of it,
My tears run down in streams.
In the States of the east, large and small,
The looms are empty.
Thin shoes of dolichos fibre,
Are made to serve to walk on the hoar-frost.
Slight and elegant gentlemen,
Walk along that road to Zhou.
Their going and coming,
Makes my heart ache.
Ye cold waters, issuing variously from the spring,
Do not soak the firewood I have cut.
Sorrowful I awake and sigh; --
Alas for us toiled people!
The firewood has been cut; --
Would that it were conveyed home!
Alas for us the toiled people!
Would that we could have rest!
The sons of the east,
Are only summoned [to service], without encouragement;
While the sons of the west,
Shine in splendid dresses.
The sons of boatmen,
Have furs of the bear and grisly bear.
The sons of the poorest families,
Form the officers in public employment.
If we present them with spirits,
They do not look on them as liquor.
If we give them long girdle-pendants with their stones,
They do not think them long enough.
There is the milky way in heaven,
Which looks down on us in light;
And the three stars together are the Weaving Sisters,
Passing in a day through seven stages [of the sky].
Although they go through their seven stages,
They complete no bright work for us.
Brilliant shine the Draught Oxen,
But they do not serve to draw our carts.
In the east there is Lucifer;
In the west there is Hesperus;
Long and curved is the Rabbit Net of th esky; --
But they only occupy their places.
In the south is the Sieve,
But it is of no use to sift.
In the north is the Ladle,
But it lades out no liquor.
In the south is the Sieve,
Idly showing its mouth.
In the north is the Ladle,
Raising its handle in the west.
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IATHPublished by The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, © Copyright 2003 by Anne Kinney and the University of Virginia